Failing Twilight
by Shadow Rebirth
Summary: ABANDONED. Naruto had learnt from a young age that life could get hectic, but all this chaos with Biju, daimyos, and psychotic missing-nin was going a bit too far. Now just throw in a fourth Great Shinobi War and you've got one pissed off seal master. [AU, no pairings.]
1. Arc I :: Prologue :: The Order

Title: Failing Twilight: The Order  
Author: Shadow Rebirth  
Beta Reader: Rukia23  
Rating: T  
Warnings: Death, blood and gore, coarse language, adult themes, spoilers  
Chapter WC: 465  
Story WC: 465  
First Written: April 29, 2008  
Last Edited: February 21, 2009  
Posted: October 16, 2008  
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. This work has not been endorsed by Kishimoto Masashi, Shueisha, Viz Media, Shōnen Jump, Studio Pierrot, Aniplex, or any of the others holding copyright or license to the Naruto manga, anime, movies, and products. No connection is implied or should be inferred. Other names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author receives no financial gain from its production or distribution.  
Summary: Naruto had learnt from a young age that life could get hectic, but all this chaos with Biju, daimyos, and psychotic missing-nin was going a bit too far. Now just throw in a fourth Great Shinobi War and you've got one pissed off seal master. AU story. No pairings.

* * *

Failing Twilight

Prologue  
_The Order_

* * *

Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Professor, the Sandaime Hokage, one of the undisputed most powerful men in the world, stared forlornly down at a small bundle in his arms. From within that bundle appeared the small face of a baby who was sleeping peacefully, blissfully unaware of the happenings of the world around him.

Sarutobi let out a sigh as he brought the babe closer to him. "Forgive me, Naruto-chan," the elder shinobi murmured softly.

Things had...not quite gone as planned over the past few days for Sarutobi. After the Yondaime's death and the subsequent defeat of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, he'd hoped that things would settle down in Konohagakure no Sato, the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Alas, it was not to be.

The citizens of Konoha were angry and distraught and had begun crying out for blood, especially after learning the fate of the Kyuubi. Sarutobi had managed to quickly silence them, but the Council could not be so easily put down. While they, fortunately, were wise enough to harbor no ill will towards young Uzumaki Naruto, neither did they lean in his favor. Just earlier that day they had forbid Sarutobi from taking an active part in Naruto's life.

Being the Hokage, Sarutobi had immediately protested against this ruling. Unfortunately his power was over shinobi, and Naruto was a _civilian_, not a shinobi. So the order stood.

Sarutobi didn't need to turn to know that a shinobi had just entered into the room. Nor did he need to look to know who it was.

"Have the preparations been made?" the reinstated Hokage asked. His voice was weary, as if he'd aged decades in just a few short days.

"Yes," the ANBU in the room answered shortly. "Everything is ready, sir."

There was a pause and Sarutobi easily picked up on the shinobi's uneasiness. "Speak," he said softly.

The ANBU gulped before doing so. "Forgive me, Hokage-sama," he began. "But...Are you sure about this? Are you sure that you shouldn't assign at least a few ninja to watch over the boy?"

"Alas, I wish I could. Unfortunately, the Council is correct: I have no influence over civilians except in a time of war. No, I'm afraid that Naruto shall have to face the world on his own..."

With a second sigh Sarutobi finally turned around to face the ANBU. With a few quick strides he walked over to the man and then gently passed the baby to him. The ANBU accepted his charge somewhat awkwardly, but firmly nonetheless.

"Good luck, Naruto-chan," Sarutobi murmured quietly as his hands fell away. "I hope to see you again someday soon."

Without even a whisper of movement the ANBU was gone, leaving a bent old man alone in his office.

"Dear Kami, I hope I have made the right choice."

* * *

A/N: This story is the result of me listening to Three Days Grace in the middle of the night while dealing with a high fever. 'Nough said. My goal for this fic is to keep this story realistic, while making it original. I hope I succeed (**grins**)

On that note, this story is going to be _very_ AU and very different. You see, most AU fics generally end up being about how Naruto would view events if he'd been smarter, raised by someone else, etc. And because they stick to only the canon events, they tend to get pretty boring pretty quick. If I wanted to read about what happens in the canon, then I'd go read the manga. But as this is fanfiction, I want to read something that deviates a bit more from canon. This story, as I just said, will be very AU. Sure the major events will still be there, but I'll be switching things up _a lot_, including things that are generally taken for granted. (**grins**) You'll see what I mean.

As a last note, these first few chapters will be a build up of Naruto's situation and what his character will be like. The main plotline for this story will be revealed in chapter four and things will start to pick up from there on.

Please review and tell me what you think!

—S.R.


	2. Arc I :: Chapter 1 :: The Dark

Title: Failing Twilight  
Author: Shadow Rebirth  
Beta Reader: Rukia23  
Rating: T  
Warnings: Death, blood and gore, coarse language, adult themes, spoilers  
Chapter WC: 3,446  
Story WC: 3,911  
First Written: April 24, 2008  
Last Edited: February 21, 2009  
Posted: October 16, 2008  
Summary: Naruto had learnt from a young age that life could get hectic, but all this chaos with Biju, daimyos, and psychotic missing-nin was going a bit too far. Now just throw in a fourth Great Shinobi War and you've got one pissed off seal master. AU story. No pairings.

* * *

Failing Twilight

Chapter 1  
_The Dark_

_

* * *

_

For as long as he could remember he had liked dark places. Ones that were hidden away and hard to get to. Ones that were isolated from civilization. Maybe it was the empty feeling that such places gave off, the feeling of something just waiting to be explored. Or maybe it was the knowledge that he could do whatever he wanted and be whoever he wanted there, and no one would be able to judge him.

Or, perhaps, it was because the places reminded him so much of himself, if even only unconsciously. They were abandoned, alone, ignored, and yet they were still standing defiantly. They were hidden away, just waiting for the right person to come along and take notice of what was really there.

Whatever the reason may be, he loved dark places. He loved finding abandoned buildings and exploring their passageways. He loved finding out all of their secrets and reveled in the knowledge that he was perhaps the first person to step foot in them in years. He loved just knowing that they were _his_ secrets. Some might say that such a love of old, dark places wasn't normal, but he loved them anyway.

After all, no one had ever accused Uzumaki Naruto of being normal.

It was because of his love of dark places that when at the age of five Naruto discovered a network of old, abandoned buildings he was, needless to say, ecstatic. The buildings were in the rough, run down part of Konohagakure no Sato; the red-light district, some called it. It was there that drug dealers, prostitutes, and gang members frequented, though at that time Naruto knew little of such things.

What the young blond did know however was that the building had once been part of a system of storage buildings and apartments. Some years back the company that had owned them had gone bankrupt, leaving them empty. Though many people used the main, front buildings for various things, the ones in the back were left untouched. Thus there were many interconnecting rooms, passageways, and cellars at Naruto's fingertips, just waiting to be explored. So explore them he did.

Left to his own devices as he was, Naruto had a lot time on his hands—as much as he wanted. He spent numerous days in those empty buildings, searching every nook and cranny. No matter how many times he went into that complex there was always something new for him to find. Whoever had designed the buildings had made the halls incredibly twisty, like a maze, so that they seemed to come out in a different place every time. This was very confusing, especially to such a young child, but that oddity only made him love the buildings even more.

Naruto's favorite part of the complex was the basement—though he used such a term lightly. It was, in fact, a system of underground rooms and vaults that were unbelievably difficult to get into, although there were many entrances to it. It actually took Naruto a week to find out that there even _was_ a basement, but as soon as he'd found it he immediately took it upon himself to find every entrance that he could, even though he got lost more times than he could count in the process.

It wasn't long before Naruto had practically moved into the basement of the buildings. As an orphan he had a small apartment that was paid for by the government, but he found himself liking the places he'd discovered much more. True, the abandoned buildings were filled with mildew, dust, and rats and the floorboards groaned with every step he took, but he loved them even so.

Naruto loved the mystery that they were filled with and he loved the isolation that they brought. He'd never been very good with people, so he was happier away from them. Away from the stares, away from the whispers, and away from society.

If he was going to be alone then he'd be so by choice, in his own little "clubhouse".

* * *

Three months after he'd first found the abandoned complex Naruto made a discovery. He had been walking through the upper levels when he found himself in a room that he'd never been in before. This one was tucked away, the doorway mostly hidden by an old, empty cabinet.

At first as Naruto walked around the room he found nothing of interest—just dust, cobwebs, and broken furniture. The young boy wasn't looking where he was going however, and stubbed his toes on a loose floorboard. Uncoordinated as all children are at that age, he immediately stumbled forward and fell into an old, rotting chest, which upon impact, splintered into several pieces with a resounding crash.

For several long moments Naruto stayed perfectly still where he'd fallen, his heart pounding fiercely against his ribcage. Of course there was no one in the nearby area to have heard the crash, but fear gripped him nonetheless.

Only when several minutes had gone by without the sound of feet pounding down the hallway outside did Naruto allow himself to relax. Slowly, he extracted himself from what was left of the chest and shook the dust and splinters from his clothing and unruly hair. He was just about to make a quick escape from the room but it was then that curiosity, his greatest trait as well as his greatest downfall, took a hold of him and held him in place.

The chest, Naruto saw, was not quite as empty as he had first believed. Rather it was filled with a number of scrolls that were so old that they'd turned yellow and were falling apart. In fact only one of them was still wholly intact and the red ribbon tied around it crumbled into pieces as the child picked it up.

Naruto sat down on the dusty floor and opened the scroll with uncharacteristic gentleness. Once it was spread out before him, he found that the entirety of the paper was filled with old-style Kanji that he had to squint at to read.

But he could in fact read. Naruto had been reading since he'd taught himself when he was just three years old. Amusingly enough, Naruto had done so by looking at comic books. He'd seen the pictures and had then said aloud to himself what the picture was explaining. Then as the characters were speaking, he'd say to himself what he thought it was they were saying.

Using that system, and the world around him, Naruto taught himself to read. It wasn't a fast process by any means, but it worked nonetheless. Before long Naruto found himself reading anything that he could get his hands on—from posters, to street signs, to entire books. Some people might call such a feat from such a young child incredible, but no one knew of it. Naruto had no reason to tell anyone, or anyone _to_ tell for that matter.

Regardless, as Naruto sat with the scroll before him he felt what could only be described as extreme excitement. He loved to read but rarely had anything good that he could read. Now he had this old scroll and it was for him and him alone.

"F-fuin," Naruto read aloud somewhat brokenly, "The Art of Sealing."

Naruto paused to frown down at the scroll, not at all understanding what he was reading. He pushed on anyway, even though it would actually be several more years before he could truly comprehend the concepts contained within. For if there was one thing that Naruto loved more than dark places and reading, it was a challenge.

* * *

Before very long Naruto took to exploring more of the area outside of the complex, and eventually the other residents of the district got used to seeing him. Unlike the "regular" citizens, they were too wrapped up in just trying to survive to pay much attention to the small blond, blue-eyed child that wandered around. As long as he didn't bother them they wouldn't bother him, and that suited Naruto just fine.

On one calm evening Naruto found himself peeking into a rather seedy tavern, where thick smoke permeated the air, dimming the lights, while drunken laughter shook the wooden floor. Normally he would have left rather quickly in order to avoid being noticed, but this time he caught sight of a half eaten loaf of bread sitting on an abandoned table in a corner of the tavern, doubtlessly left there as an unfinished, forgotten meal.

Of course, it was at that moment that Naruto's stomach rumbled, announcing its hunger to the world.

Naruto, like all other orphans, received a stipend each month for food. This stipend was rather meager though, so Naruto was unable to eat as often as one might think. In fact, he had yet to eat at all that day.

Had the loaf of bread been close to the bar that ran along one wall of the tavern, Naruto wouldn't have even bothered with it. As luck would have it however, it was closer to the wall _opposite_ the bar. There was only one table filled with men close to it and they were most likely drunk so he _just might_ be able to reach the bread without being noticed...It was another rumble from his stomach that decided it for Naruto.

Carefully, Naruto edged his way along the wall of the bar, making his way toward the corner table with the bread atop it. None of the many people in the hazy bar seemed to take any notice of him and his confidence grew with every step he took.

Before very long however, Naruto grew closer to the rowdy table of men. To get to the bread he'd have to pass within just a few feet of them. Naruto almost turned back right then and there, but just managed to hold himself in place. He couldn't leave now. Not when he'd gotten so far. Not when he was so close.

Slowing his steps, Naruto continued on his way. He hung his head down as he walked, hoping against all hope that he wouldn't be spotted. As he passed though, he couldn't help but watch the table from the corner of his eye. There were six men there, most smoking cigarettes or cigars and all drinking alcohol. On the table before them were cards and they seemed to be gambling.

"Oh don't be such a wuss, Nadao," one man was saying to another, "You're already fucking pathetic as it is."

"Hey!" the other man protested angrily, but the first just bulldozed on.

"You can't even play _poker_ properly. Hell," he threw in with a nod towards Naruto, "That kid could probably beat ya!"

Instantly Naruto froze while staring at the table with wide eyes, fear coursing through his veins.

While the other men began laughing raucously, a third man, the one closest to Naruto, let out a snort. "Don't be such a damn drama queen," he said with a chuckle.

While the first man made some sort of a rebuttal, this man turned in his seat to face Naruto. The blond noticed that the man, who appeared to be in his mid twenties, had shaggy black hair and dark eyes. A ragged scar ran down the left side of his face, from his forehead to his chin, and a cigarette hung lazily from his lips.

"Do ya even know 'ow ta play poker?" the scarred man asked with a light grin.

"N-no," Naruto stuttered out. It felt as though his heart was attempting to leap from his chest, so intense was his fear, but for some reason his feet seemed to be glued to the ground.

"Bah, dat's a crime, dat is," the man continued while waving a hand through the air in an apparently random gesture. "Everyone, even..no, '_specially_…children should know 'ow ta play _poker_." He paused for a moment to glance over the blond with a critical eye. "What's ya name anyway, kid?"

Ever so slowly, Naruto was relaxing in response to the man's open and friendly attitude.

"I'm Naruto," he replied in a small voice.

"Hn," the man said thoughtfully, "Strange name."

Naruto's young face screwed up in anger but before he could even open his mouth another man at the table let out a bark of a laugh. "Like you one to talk, Tasuki," he sneered.

"Ah, fuck off," the scarred man, Tasuki, snapped. He rolled his eye before turning his attention back to Naruto, a mischievous grin on his face once more. "Well, anyway, Naruto-chan, ya gotta learn 'bout poker somehow. Come 'ere and I'll teach ya da basics."

At first Naruto was very hesitant about going anywhere near Tasuki, but curiosity eventually got the better of him and he began to inch towards the man. Tasuki either didn't notice his attitude or just chose to ignore it.

Either way, as soon as the blond got close enough Tasuki continued on, explaining the rules of the game. Naruto listened closely, paying keen attention to what the older man was saying. The game quickly caught Naruto's attention and before long he was deeply involved in a conversation with Tasuki, shooting out question after question.

"But how do you know if you've got a better hand than everyone else?" Naruto asked. All of his earlier apprehension was completely gone, replaced by childish curiosity. "How do you know that you're making the right choice in betting?"

"Well, ya never know fer sure 'til da end, when da 'ands are revealed," Tasuki told him with a grin. "But ya can guess whether the others have good or bad 'ands by watching 'em." He lowered his voice to conspiratorial tones. "Fer example, ya see dat guy across da table? He's most likely gotten a bad 'and. Ya can tell 'cause he's grippin' his cards a little 'arder den he normally does and his mouth muscles keep on twitching every now and den."

Naruto squinted hard at the man across the table, but for the life of him he couldn't see the signs that Tasuki was talking about. When he complained about this to him though, Tasuki only laughed.

"Keep watching," he said. "Ya'll see 'em eventually, wit' enough practice. What poker is really about is not so much what 'ands _you_ get, but about figurin' out what everyone _else_ 'as and keeping dem from knowin' what you 'ave. It's a game 'bout trickin' your opponents."

"Oi, Tasuki," the first man to have spoken called across the table, "If you're done playin' babysitting then get back to the game. Are ya in or out?"

While Tasuki returned to playing with only an amused grin thrown in Naruto's direction, the young boy did as he'd been instructed and began to watch the game. As the hours passed he really began to see what Tasuki had been talking about. He noticed the minute glances thrown around, the muscle contractions, and the way voices either raised or lowered. He saw all of this and without really knowing, he began to learn how to read people.

In the corner of the bar the half eaten loaf of bread sat, forgotten.

* * *

After his first introduction to poker Naruto began to visit the tavern—the Black Wolf Tavern, he'd later learn—almost every night. He never played, but contented himself to just watch. Tasuki was always there and he always talked to Naruto. Not just about poker either, but about anything and everything that came to the man's mind.

Naruto had also been working on deciphering the old scroll he'd found. It was difficult and though he still didn't get most of it, his reading had improved enough that he now knew that it was about the kinds of seals that monks and shinobi made. These seals could do just about everything from storing objects in a scroll, to molding chakra, to creating wards, to summoning objects! Frankly, it fascinated Naruto and even at his young age he caught onto just how useful it could be.

Because of his first discovery Naruto also spent some time re-exploring the complex, searching for any other scrolls that may have been left behind. Though he only managed to find a few and none of them contained anything particularly interesting, Naruto was happy nevertheless.

* * *

On one fine day near the beginning of summer, Naruto trotted down one of the larger roads in the shopping district of Konohagakure. He kept his head lowered and his shoulders hunched as he walked, if only because that was how he was used to walking in the red-light district. In that place, meeting someone's eyes was just like asking to get beaten up.

As the blond child walked however, he noticed a familiar face up ahead. "Tasuki!" he called out happily, even as he dashed forward towards the man.

Tasuki glanced around in surprise as his name was called, but as soon as his eyes fell on Naruto his face split into a wide grin that caused the scar on his face to twist strangely. "Ah, kid, what'cha ya doin' round 'ere?"

Naruto shrugged in reply. He'd actually been visiting his apartment, but he had no reason to tell Tasuki about that, friend or not.

"What're you doing?" Naruto asked curiously.

Tasuki let out a low chucked. "Eh, just pickin' up some cash for da game tonight."

Naruto's brow furrowed in confusion. "But...how?"

"Easy," Tasuki replied while grinning down at the blond. "Jus' watch."

For almost a minute Tasuki stayed silent as he walked next to Naruto while the boy watched curiously on. Then, just moments after brushing past a man, he raised his hand to show a small money pouch grasped there in his fist.

Naruto let out a gasp and twisted around to look back behind him as he walked. The man Tasuki had just stolen from walked on, completely unaware of what had just occurred.

"How'd you _do_ that?" Naruto asked while looking up at his companion in awe.

"Practice," Tasuki answered with a wink. "If there's one thing dat ya should always remember kid, it's dat ya should always make da first strike—da world ain't gonna wait for ya. Survival, Naruto-chan, survival is ta one thing dat matters most in da world."

Tasuki threw his head back then and let out a rough laugh. Naruto responded with a small grin of his own, but didn't reply as his mind began to mull over the older man's words.

"Say..." Tasuki said after a minute while eyeing the money, "How'd ya like ta go and get somethin' ta eat?"

"Yeah!" Naruto exclaimed happily while jumping up and down.

"How 'bout ramen? Ya ever 'ad ramen, Naruto-chan?"

"Uh-uh."

"Ah, yet another crime!" Tasuki said while staggering back and clutching at his chest as if he'd been stabbed by a sword. Naruto giggled at the scarred civilian's antics. "I'll 'ave ta show ya den. I know dis great place; they've got da best ramen in da world there. "

Tasuki led Naruto through the streets until the boy was sure that his legs would fall off. Just when he thought that he couldn't go any farther, Tasuki came to a stop in front of a small ramen stand. _Ichiraku Ramen_ was spelled across the top of it.

Tasuki led the way inside and sat down at one of the stools there. "Hey, old man!" he called out. "You there?"

As he called, a somewhat heavy man who looked to be in his early forties came out from the back of the shop. "Yeah, yeah, quit your yappin'," he said good naturedly. It was obvious even to Naruto that the two men knew each other. "What—" he began, only to halt as he caught sight of Naruto peering over the counter. "Why, who's this?"

"Dis is Naruto-chan," Tasuki replied with a grin. "He's never had ramen before, so I thought I'd bring 'im ta da best ramen joint in town."

"A new customer? Well in that case you get one bowl of miso ramen each. On the house."

Tasuki let out a howl. "Hell ya!" he exclaimed. "Now _dat's_ what I'm talkin' about!"

The older man—Teuchi, as Naruto would later learn—chuckled as he busied himself with making the ramen. Just a few short minutes later two steaming bowls of ramen were placed on the counter.

It was Naruto's first gift, and it was on that day that he fell in love with ramen.

* * *

A/N: There are a couple of things I want to make clear about this story: 1) Though he's intelligent, this will not be super!Naruto story. He'll be skilled, certainly, but not unrealistically so. 2) Naruto _will not_ have a bloodline. The point of Naruto's strength in the manga/anime is that he gets his power solely from himself, without having anything to rely on—except for the Kyuubi of course. Naruto's strength in this story will mostly come from his will and his creativity, among other things. And 3) Naruto is not now, nor ever will be, abused by the villagers. Those plots are fucking unrealistic. The Third creates a law, punishable by _death_, to stop people from saying that Naruto's a jinchuuriki, but lets people form mobs and beat him? Yeah, _right_.

You'll also notice that I won't be showing too much hatred from the villagers toward Naruto in this story. The reason is because Naruto spends most of his time in the red-light district, where people don't give a damn who he is, so most of the villagers don't recognize him on sight. If they heard his name or were close enough to see his whisker marks then they'd know who he is and would probably be cold to him, but other than that he's just another blond haired kid to them.

Oh, and to some of you the whole "teaching himself to read at the age of three" thing might seem unrealistic, but I actually took the idea from a Native American author who did just that—at the same age and in the same way described. So it is in fact possible. And since Naruto wouldn't have much else to do, I personally could easily see him becoming an avid reader.

-S.R.


	3. Arc I :: Chapter 2 :: The Building

Title: Failing Twilight  
Author: Shadow Rebirth  
Beta Reader: Rukia23  
Rating: T  
Warnings: Death, blood and gore, coarse language, adult themes, spoilers  
Chapter WC: 4,053  
Story WC: 7,964  
First Written: May 17, 2008  
Last Edited: February 21, 2009  
Posted: October 21, 2008  
Summary: Naruto had learnt from a young age that life could get hectic, but all this chaos with Biju, daimyos, and psychotic missing-nin was going a bit too far. Now just throw in a fourth Great Shinobi War and you've got one pissed off seal master. AU story. No pairings.

* * *

Failing Twilight

Chapter 2  
_The Building_

* * *

Naruto was six when he got into his first fight. He'd been taking a short cut through a back alley when he was jumped by a group of teenagers intent on stealing his money. When they found out that he had absolutely no cash on him...Well, needless to say that they weren't very happy.

"Damn brat," one of the teens snarled, "You think that you can just come into our territory like ya own the place?"

Naruto was utterly terrified, but he held his ground stubbornly. "I- I was just passing through—"

No sooner had he spoken than stars exploded in his vision and he found himself lying on the ground. Tears forming in the corners of his eyes from the pain and he grasped at where he'd been hit in the face while pushing himself into a sitting position.

"Aw, did that hurt?" another of the teens mocked, "Is the little baby going to cry for his mommy?"

Anger began to build within Naruto as he stared up at the leering faces of the boys. "F-fuck you!" he spat out.

The teens just continued to laugh menacingly.

"Ah, look," the second guy continued, "The baby knows a big boy word! Naughty, naughty. We should teach him to respect his superiors, eh?"

At that moment something within Naruto snapped. Snarling in rage, he leapt at the teen. The boy let out a surprised yelp and the others quickly began attacking Naruto as well.

The next few minutes were a blur to the blonde. He fought against the group of teenagers like a wild animal, biting, scratching, and kicking with all his might. Small as he was however, he was incapable of taking down even just one teenager, let alone a whole group of them. And so when the teens finally walked away from the alleyway, they left a bruised, bloodied, and broken Naruto behind.

As Naruto lay in the dirt he could barely even whimper. Actually, he could barely even breath due to a couple of broken ribs, but he didn't really notice that because of the excruciating pain coming from his other limbs.

Ever so slowly Naruto dragged himself into an empty cardboard box that was lying on its side. Once there, his arms gave out beneath him and he knew that he wouldn't be able to go any farther. The young child curled into a fetal position and cried silently as blissful unconsciousness took him.

* * *

The next morning Naruto's first thought was to question why he was lying inside a cardboard box. Then, as his memories of the night before came rushing back to him, he wondered why he wasn't hurting all over. In fact, he felt absolutely fine, if a bit exhausted.

Startled by this revelation, Naruto quickly sat up and inspected himself for the wounds he'd received the night before, but found nothing. No lacerations, no bruises, no broken bones. Nothing. Just pure, unblemished skin. Naruto might have thought that he'd dreamt the entire encounter had his clothes and the box beneath him not been stained crimson with his blood.

Naruto stumbled to his feet as his mind whirled with confusion. Why wasn't he injured? Even _he_ knew that people didn't normally heal that quickly. So how was it that he was alright? How...?

While his mind was elsewhere, Naruto's feet took him to the Black Wolf Tavern. As it was early in the morning only a few people were there, but it was open nonetheless. Naruto pulled himself up onto one of the barstools and rested his forehead on the cool wood of the bar's counter.

"Eh, you're here early, Naruto-chan," commented the bartender, "Can I get you anything?"

"Just water," Naruto replied hoarsely.

A minute later something was set before him with a clunk. When he looked up Naruto found, to his surprise, that the bartender had given him both water and a small bowl of soup. He stared enquiringly at the older man.

"It's on the house," the bartender told him, "You look like you need it."

Naruto gave the man a small smile that quickly disappeared. "Thank you, Haru-san," he said before quickly digging into the food. For some reason he felt hungrier than he normally did.

About halfway through the meal Naruto began slowing down. Despite his raging hunger he spent several minutes pushing his food around with his spoon, thinking.

"Hey, Haru-san?" the young blonde enquired while still in thought. "Has something ever happened to you...Something that you couldn't explain?"

The bartender, Haru, frowned at Naruto. "Well, sure. Unexplainable things happen to everyone at least once in their lifetime," he said, "...Why? Has something happened?"

Naruto hesitated before opening his mouth once more. "Well you see," he began, "I got into this fight last night—"

"You did what?" a voice suddenly interrupted.

Naruto blinked in surprise as he watched Tasuki slide onto a bar stool next to him. The scarred man stared at Naruto with raised eyebrows and for reasons unknown to the young boy he felt his face begin to heat up.

"I didn't _mean_ to," he defended hotly, "A group of teenagers jumped me!"

"It's not a bad thing," Tasuki replied while waving a hand dismissively. "Yer gonna 'ave ta fight in ya life, so I s'pose it's best ta learn while you're young. But against a group o' boys ten years older than ya? Why da hell didn't ya run away?"

Naruto looked indignant. "Run away like a coward?" he exclaimed, "I'd never do that!"

Tasuki rolled his eyes and suddenly Naruto felt very childish. "It ain't about cowardice or 'onor," the scarred man said gruffly, "It's bout _survivin'_. When it comes down ta it, especially in a situation like dat where you're outnumbered an' out-skilled, ya 'ave ta decide what's best fer ya in _dat_ moment: ta fight or flee. Honor an' bravery don't mean shit if you're dead."

As Tasuki spoke Naruto had been slowly sinking lower down in his seat. It wasn't the reprimand that he didn't like, but rather that he _knew_ that what Tasuki was saying was true. He hadn't been in the red-light district long yet, but even a few weeks, let alone a few months, are more than enough to disillusion _anyone_ about how hard it was to survive.

"...Ya don't exactly _look_ as though ya got da shit beat outta ya though..." Tasuki commented.

"Ah, that's what I was just about to say," Naruto said with a glance at Haru. "When I woke up this morning I was completely healed. No bruises or nothin'."

Tasuki let out a low whistle. "Dat's some nice constitution ya've got there," he replied, "You're lucky."

Naruto's brow furrowed. "What's con- conts—..."

Haru let out a hearty laugh. "Constitution? It's a term for how fast you heal and how healthy you are," he told the blonde.

"It's a good thing," Tasuki added, while playfully ruffling Naruto's hair. The young boy scowled and ducked away, much to the two adults' amusement.

* * *

Following his first fight Naruto found himself exercising more—running, doing push-ups, etc. He hated how weak he'd felt when fighting the group of teenagers and wanted to remedy it as quickly as possible. In the following months Naruto purposefully got himself into many other fights in order to gain experience, though they were mainly with kids just a few years older than him. And with thanks to his newfound healing abilities he'd wake up the next morning looking none the worse for wear.

One day however Naruto found himself involved in a mystery. He'd been out in downtown Konoha, returning from lunch at Ichiraku when he noticed something: There was a group of black-clad shinobi entering a building.

Now, this in itself wasn't a strange occurrence—Naruto saw shinobi all the time after all. But what _was_ strange was the building itself. It was a rather plain and nondescript structure that stood only a few floors above the ground and seemed to blend in with everything around it. Why would shinobi be going into such a place? All of the official buildings were a mile or two away, closer to the Hokage Tower.

Curious as he was, Naruto just couldn't let this go. Hesitantly at first, the blonde child crossed the street to the building. The door handle moved easily beneath his small fingers and he turned it and opened the door—

—Only to come face to face with someone's knees.

Naruto's eyes traveled up and up, seemingly forever, until he saw the mean, angry face of the tall man—a shinobi, Naruto's mind automatically supplied—standing before him with a glare. Naruto let out a terrified squeak and immediately turned around and fled back into the alleyway across the street.

Once he was safely hidden behind a trash can Naruto chanced a peek back at the building. It sat there, innocent and plain as ever, as if mocking him. If Naruto's curiosity hadn't been piqued before, it certainly was now.

From that day on, a large amount of Naruto's time was spent watching The Building, as he'd taken to calling it. He watched it secretly of course, or at least as secretly as a six year old could. He noticed over time that there were many shinobi who entered and left the building. They used all sorts of entrances, including windows and the roof.

Despite all of this activity, Naruto could find absolutely nothing about The Building that hinted at its purpose. He discretely asked people—store owners, mostly—but everyone seemed to be under the impression that The Building was abandoned.

Finally, after many weeks of stakeout, Naruto decided to attempt to get into The Building again; it seemed that that would be the only way to get any information. He knew that going through the front door was completely out of the question, so instead he thought he'd try the back door.

Sneaking through the dark alleyway behind The Building was almost laughably easy for the blonde, even though he saw several shinobi in the area. One of the first things that _anyone_ in the red-light district learned after all, was how to sneak around Konohagakure, the Hidden Leaf Village. It was honestly surprising how many back passageways and alleys there were in Konohagakure. According to Haru there were even some passages down near the sewers. They had been built for maintenance or something, but were generally used for more...nefarious...purposes nowadays.

Once he'd reached the back door of The Building, Naruto quickly slipped inside. Fortunately this time there was no one there. Naruto had taken only a few steps into the dim room however, when a shinobi abruptly appeared from down one of the several halls that connected to the room. Upon seeing Naruto he pulled up to a sudden halt, surprise playing across his face.

"What the hell?"

Naruto stared fearfully up at the man a few feet from him. In his early twenties, the man was massively built and was perhaps even taller than the first shinobi the blonde had run into. Numerous ragged scars marred his face, though a hitai-ate in the form of a bandana covered most of his head.

For a moment the two, child and shinobi, simply stared at each other in surprise. After a few seconds the trance was broken and Naruto instantly turned on his heel and ran back out the door that he'd just entered.

"Oi!" the shinobi called after him. The blonde paid the man no mind however, and instead just continued running until he was well away from The Building and had hopefully lost any possible pursuers.

Despite this incident, Naruto found himself still determined to get into The Building, perhaps more than ever now that he knew that there _was_ something going on inside. He waited for a week after his second attempt to try again, this time through the windows. Unfortunately, try as he might he couldn't get _any_ of the windows to budge even an inch, and eventually left before he could get caught again. So instead Naruto tried the roof entrances. This time he managed to get in and actually got pretty far before the scarred shinobi found him and chased him out again.

Naruto refused to allow his failed attempts to dampen his spirits. Time and time again he tried to get into The Building, but time after time he was caught by the scarred shinobi. Naruto would later swear that the man _lived_ in The Building, as he seemed to always be there, no matter what time it was.

One evening, after yet another failed attempt, Naruto dragged himself into the Black Wolf Tavern. The boy strode through the room with confidence—a far throw from the terrified street urchin that he'd been just a year ago—and over toward a particular table in the corner of the room where a group of men were playing poker. He slipped into the single empty seat there, right next to Tasuki.

"Hey! Naruto-chan!" one of the men exclaimed. "We haven't seen you here in a while!"

"Are you finally going to bet instead of just watching the game?" another of the men joked.

Naruto shook his head while grinning impishly. The other men laughed boisterously while turning their attention back to their game. That night Naruto didn't really see the game, even though his eyes were on the table the whole time. His mind was just too preoccupied with his current situation to really pay any attention.

"What's up?" Tasuki finally asked. "Ya seem really distracted tonight."

"I am," Naruto admitted. "It's just that there's this...problem...that I have that I can't get around. I've tried everything that I can think of, but nothing seems to work!"

Tasuki shrugged while taking another swig from the bottle of saké in his hand. "Well," he said thoughtfully, "Sometimes ya can't face a problem 'ead-on. Instead ya've got ta take a step back and look at ta big picture. Do dat and ya'll often find an obvious solution dat ya'd 'ave missed before."

Naruto frowned at Tasuki. Yeah, he got what he was saying, but he'd already looked at the problem from _every_ possible angle. All of the entrances to the building were heavily guarded and there seemed to be no way in without getting caught. They were shinobi after all.

Abrupt realization struck Naruto. They were _shinobi_. Meaning that they guarded the village and paid special attention to any disturbances. _Especially_ disturbances that were nearby.

Naruto leapt from his seat. That was it! He knew exactly what he could do to get into The Building. It was perfect!

"Thanks Tasuki!" Naruto called over his shoulder to the bewildered man as he dashed from the tavern.

The blonde quickly made his way across the red-light district and to "his" buildings. Once there he easily accessed the basement through a cleverly hidden entrance near the back of an empty shop. He made a beeline toward a storage room that he was now using as a workroom. It held several scrolls and numerous small sheets of paper.

Naruto strode over to a small stack of square pieces of paper on the floor. They were covered in designs drawn in ink: explosion tags. Or at least Naruto's attempt at making them. The scroll on sealing that he'd found almost a year ago had detailed, mainly, on how to make them, along with the basics of the art. It had taken Naruto a lot of trial and error to get them to look even marginally correct and he still hadn't been able to try them out yet, but he was hopeful that they would work.

"And now," the boy muttered to himself as he fingered the worn paper, "I have the perfect way to test them..."

* * *

The next morning dawned bright and early for all of Konoha, but especially for one short, blonde haired boy. Naruto was sneaking quietly through the village using the back alleyways. When he finally reached The Building, his eyes were sparkling with mischief and excitement.

Naruto crouched down behind some crates in front of a building next to The Building. From there he had a good view of the street, but was completely hidden from everyone. All but the most attentive of shinobi would be unable to spot him.

Once in place, Naruto settled in to wait for just the right moment to act. Generally, he was very impatient, but now he would wait. For this, he would wait.

Almost an hour passed for a fidgety Naruto before he saw what he'd been waiting for: A cart, filled with cabbages, was coming down the road. Grinning widely, Naruto shifted into a crouched position. He would have a window of only a few seconds to do this, so he couldn't afford any mistakes.

As the cart began to pass before The Building, Naruto quickly pulled out a slingshot and several explosive tags wrapped securely around rocks. He knew how to activate the tags only because of the sealing scroll he'd found—it had explained how to call upon chakra. Naruto had absolutely no control over his chakra at this point in time, but control wasn't needed to activate a tag. Only raw power was and _that_ was no problem for the young boy.

The blonde child fitted one of the rocks into the slingshot, took aim, and then fired. Naruto didn't even wait for the rock to hit the wheel of the cart before he shot off another one, and then another. Then, without warning, a small explosion lit up the street. It wasn't large enough to do any real damage, but the cart was sent off track and the horse pulling it promptly began to freak out. It reared up on its hind legs, screaming, and was even further frightened by the terrified screams of the people around it as they threw themselves away from the cart.

Almost instantly shinobi appeared in the street in an attempt to regain order. Naruto took this chance and immediately began to thread his way through the quickly forming crowd. He slipped into the front door of the building and, just as he'd expected, there was no shinobi there this time to stop him.

Curiously, Naruto glanced about the room that he was in, which honestly reminded him of a waiting room. He poked his nose around for a minute before remembering that he didn't have much time. So instead he hurried through the main hallway that led from the room. This hallway split into several more and so Naruto just chose one of those randomly to enter.

The blonde meandered through The Building for several minutes before finally coming across a metal door that was tightly sealed. He tugged on the door several times, but it refused to open.

"It's locked," a rough voice behind Naruto spoke up. "Locked with chakra seals. You won't be able to get in."

Instantly Naruto froze in place, terror gripping him. He had been caught red-handed and was trapped in a dead-end. There was no way out of this.

Ever so slowly Naruto turned around, and immediately paled further. Standing before him with his arms crossed over his chest was the man Naruto had been caught by time and time again. In the dark hallway with shadows half hiding his face the scars covering the shinobi's head looked all the more menacing.

Naruto gulped deeply. "I- I was just—" he stuttered, but the tall shinobi swiftly interrupted him.

"I must say," He began, "I'm quite surprised that you managed to make it this far. Using a distraction to lure people away from the building was quite ingenious. Though, personally, I'm more curious about how you managed to get your hands on some explosive tags. Regardless, your little adventure ends here. I really should even kill you even for entering this building, or perhaps just hand you over to the police force for endangering citizens, but you've caught me in a good mood and I must admit that I'm impressed by your determination. Why are you even attempting to get in here anyway?"

As soon as the man had said that he wasn't going to kill him, Naruto's shoulders had dropped with relief. Thank Kami the man wasn't some sort of psycho killer. Now that the danger had mostly passed, the blonde stared inquisitively at the man before him.

"I was curious," Naruto replied with a shrug. "I saw shinobi going into the building and I wanted to know why."

The shinobi stared at Naruto with a raised eyebrow before suddenly throwing his head back and letting out a booming laugh. "You're either very brave or very stupid, kid. Did it never occur to you that entering a building filled with shinobi might be dangerous?" He continued to chuckle while slowly shaking his head. "What's your name anyway?"

"Uzumaki Naruto," the blonde answered while sticking his chin up defiantly.

"Naruto, eh? Well, Naruto, I'm Morino Ibiki, Chuunin of Konohagakure. And you should be leaving before anyone else comes back."

Naruto quickly nodded his head. He opened his mouth to thank Ibiki, only to pause when something occurred to him: He didn't know how to get out of The Building. Ibiki quickly realized Naruto's dilemma and promptly slapped his forehead.

"Of course," he muttered with a sigh. "Wouldn't that just be the case. Fine, I'll help you out. But _only_ this once."

Without any further ado Ibiki placed a heavy hand on one of Naruto's shoulders, causing the young boy to jump in surprise. This was quickly forgotten however as the strangest sensation enveloped Naruto while smoke suddenly surrounded the two. Just moments later both the smoke and the feeling dissipated, leaving a gaping Naruto to stare at their new surroundings, namely the rooftops of Konoha.

Ibiki chuckled at the boy's expression. "That was **Shunshin** (_Body Flicker Technique_)," he told him. "It's a transportation technique."

"Awesome!" Naruto exclaimed, though his eyes were glued to the view around them. He'd never been on the rooftops before, and he found that the view of the expanse of Konoha was incredible. He hadn't realized just how massive the village really was.

"Hey, Ibiki-san?" Naruto asked without turning around. "What _are_ shinobi doing in that building anyway? I couldn't tell." When he received to response the blonde frowned and turned back to the shinobi. "Ibiki-san?" There was nothing there but the sun on the roof tiles. "...Ibiki? ...Oi! How the hell am I supposed to get down from here?"

* * *

Ibiki barely managed to prevent himself from squirming under the Sandaime Hokage's burning gaze. The older man was generally know as a kind man, but when he got angry...Well, there was a reason why he was still the Hokage, even after all these years.

"And why is this just now coming to my attention?" Sarutobi asked, his voice deceptively calm. "Please explain to me now why the information of someone attempting to break into the Intelligence Headquarters was not deemed important enough to tell me!"

Cringing, Ibiki shrank back from the Hokage. "Forgive me, Hokage-sama. It's just that we didn't actually expect the boy to get into the building. It was very easy to spot him while he spied on the building and even easier to prevent him from getting inside. We figured that he'd give up eventually, once he realized that his attempts were futile, but he never did..."

As the anger faded from Sarutobi he seemed to deflate. "So determined," he murmured with a weary sigh. "Naruto-chan is turning out to be just like his father in that respect..."

Ibiki perked up slightly at this statement. The Sandaime knew who Naruto's father was? He was probably the only one; very few people even thought about the fact that the young boy _had_ parents, let alone asked who they were. Suddenly Ibiki found himself a lot more interested in the child...

"Morino!" Sarutobi suddenly said and Ibiki immediately snapped to attention. "I doubt that Naruto will stop his 'investigation' now. You have my permission to keep an eye on Naruto when he comes around again."

Ibiki stared at the Sandaime, wondering what the elder man meant by that. He didn't ask for clarification though, as the mischievous, almost smug, glint in Sarutobi's eyes sent shivers down his spine.

* * *

A/N: Because some people might be confused by this, let me explain one thing: The suffix -chan is used for girls, young boys, and animals. Naruto is currently called -chan because of his age, but as he grows will be called -kun.

I should also mention that Ibiki _did_ know who Naruto was from the first time he saw him. He just pretended that he didn't because anyone, even a little boy, would find it strange if someone just randomly knew their name. Ibiki _is_ a shinobi after all, and one that is specifically trained in deception.

This chapter and the next one are mainly just setting up the story and Naruto's upbringing. In chapter four the main plot of the story will finally be revealed and from there things will begin to pick up.

—S.R.


	4. Arc I :: Chapter 3 :: The Seals

Title: Failing Twilight  
Author: Shadow Rebirth  
Beta Reader: Rukia23  
Rating: T  
Warnings: Death, blood and gore, coarse language, adult themes, spoilers  
Chapter WC: 4,069  
Story WC: 12,033  
First Written: May 31, 2008  
Last Edited: February 21, 2009  
Posted: October 24, 2008  
Summary: Naruto had learnt from a young age that life could get hectic, but all this chaos with Biju, daimyos, and psychotic missing-nin was going a bit too far. Now just throw in a fourth Great Shinobi War and you've got one pissed off seal master. AU story. No pairings.

* * *

Failing Twilight

Chapter 3  
_The Seals_

* * *

Naruto could clearly remember the exact moment that he had decided to become a shinobi. Even many years later the event would still be engraved into his memories.

The day had been a bright, sunny afternoon and Naruto had been walking through the streets of Konoha when he had come across a brawl taking place in the middle of the road. There was nothing particularly strange or vicious about the fight, but then again, it wasn't the fight itself that caught Naruto's attention.

Just as Naruto came upon the scene two black cloaked figures appeared among the crowd. Their faces were covered by terrifying porcelain masks depicting different animals.

ANBU.

Before Naruto's eyes the two ANBU easily and efficiently broke up the fight and began to turn away the crowd of spectators that had formed. The people all around immediately complied and Naruto saw the respect and awe reflected in their eyes.

In that moment Naruto _knew_ that he wanted to become a shinobi. To command such respect and power...Naruto would become a shinobi. He would become an ANBU.

Naruto took to the streets once more, heading home. He hadn't gone too far however when he caught sight of a familiar bandana and instantly an idea made itself present in his mind. Eyes alight with determination he quickly dashed forward.

"Ibiki-san!" Naruto called as he skidded to a stop next to the shinobi. "Ibiki-san! You've got to help me!"

Ibiki looked down at the blonde while groaning. "Naruto," he groused, "Will you _please_ stop bothering me? I helped you out once and now you're showing up almost everywhere I go!"

"This is different," Naruto said, waving off Ibiki's protests. "I need your help!"

"Help?" Ibiki asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"Yes! I want to become a shinobi, and you're the only shinobi I know, so..."

Ibiki snorted. "I'm not the only shinobi you know because I _don't_ know you. You're just an annoying brat that's taken to following me around," he said. Naruto just continued to stare at him, undeterred. Ibiki stared back for several minutes before finally letting his head drop down and groaning. "Fine!" he snapped. "I'll help you, but on one condition."

Naruto nodded eagerly. "Of course!" he exclaimed. "Anything! Anything!"

Ibiki pulled out a scroll from one of the pockets of his Chuunin vest and handed it to Naruto. "This scroll contains instructions for the **Henge Jutsu** (_Transformation Technique_), a technique that all Academy students learn. If you can master it in a week, then I promise to do everything I can to help you get into the Shinobi Academy."

Naruto took the scroll excitedly. "Cool! I'll definitely have this done in a week, no problem! Thanks Ibiki-san!"

Ibiki chuckled quietly as Naruto ran off. He didn't believe for a second that the boy would be able to master the technique at all at his age, let alone in only a week. The boy probably couldn't even read—being a six year old orphan and all—and even if he could, it took years of training for Academy students to be able to just call upon and control chakra, let alone be able to mold it to form a jutsu. Once he failed, hopefully the blonde would stop bothering him so much.

Ibiki's eyes slowly slid over to the Hokage Tower, which could be seen peeking over the tops of the nearby buildings. There was, however, something that was bothering him, a question that was lurking in the back of his mind.

As one may guess, Ibiki was not one to randomly carry around a scroll containing a D-rank jutsu. As a matter of fact the scroll had been given to him just a few weeks ago by the Hokage, who told him to give it to Naruto when the time was right. But how had the older man known that this would happen? That Naruto would try to become a shinobi? Sure, the boy was already as sneaky and creative as a shinobi, but he was still just a child. Could it be because he was the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune? No, that didn't make any sense...

Just what did the Hokage have up his sleeve?

* * *

While Ibiki contemplated the motives of the wily old Hokage, Naruto was swiftly making his way toward his home. Once there he entered what he'd dubbed his "work room", which was a fairly large room filled with scrolls, books, and tables. He walked over to one of the tables and quickly swept all the papers there to the side to clear a space for the scroll, which he promptly opened.

The first roadblock that Naruto ran into was the problem of handseals, which he'd never used before. Fortunately, the scroll Ibiki had given to him also detailed how to form the handseals for the jutsu, so he only had to practice them until he managed to get them right. It was too bad that there was no one to help him with the handseals, but he'd always figured out everything else on his own, right?

For the next three days Naruto barely slept, hardly ate—if it hadn't been for his stash of microwavable ramen and the microwave that he'd moved from his apartment than he probably wouldn't have eaten at all—, and focused all of his attention on attempting to get the jutsu to work.

The only problem now was that no matter what Naruto did, the jutsu _just wouldn't work_. He understood the handseals and could call up his chakra easily enough, but after that the charka would just slip through his fingers, impossible to control. He attempted to force the chakra to mold into the jutsu as the scroll described, but it never worked. It was almost akin to dealing with a wild animal: it was wild and untamable.

Naruto growled lowly while glaring hard at the scroll before him. This was _really_ starting to piss him off and his impatience was beginning to win over.

The blonde let out a deep sigh and allowed his head to fall forward onto the table with a thump. He sat there, unmoving, for several seconds before lifting his head again and promptly scowled when an explosive tag came up with him, stuck to his forehead. Naruto peeled off the piece of paper and then glared at it in annoyance. If he could get written seals to work, then why not handseals too? After all, they were basically the same.

Instantly, Naruto's thoughts grinded to a screeching halt. The same. _They were the same_. In a flurry of movement Naruto burst into action, quickly snapping up his sealing scroll while pushing others aside to make room. Once the scroll was laid out before him, he began to excitedly scan through the text.

Why hadn't he thought of this before? According to the sealing scroll, seals worked because they used a medium—either ink or blood—to channel chakra into the form it was supposed to take. Handseals did basically the same thing, but they traded control for speed and allowed the chakra to run free. It was the person that controlled the chakra then, instead of the ink.

But the point of the matter was that both forms of seals could end up with the same result. So what was stopping him from performing the Henge no Jutsu with written seals instead of handseals? In theory it'd actually be an even better version because it couldn't be dispelled because the chakra flow couldn't be disrupted by anyone other than the seal's creator.

All Naruto needed to do now was figure out how to translate handseals into written seals. And hence he came upon his second roadblock: He knew what he needed to do, but not how to do it.

Naruto started out by studying how each and every handseal molded chakra. This was incredibly difficult, but after hour after hour of molding chakra he finally began to notice how the flows of energy within his body changed with each seal. It seemed to be the sort of thing that one had to practice to be able to recognize.

Next, the blonde tried to figure out how the seals he'd been practicing making—namely explosion tags—molded chakra. This was by far the most difficult part and in the end he just had to work with trial and error by taking out and adding different parts of the seal. Of course, unknown to the boy doing this, it was extremely dangerous and it was highly likely that he'd manage to blow himself up. He'd always had an inordinate amount of luck though and fortunately it didn't fail him now.

* * *

At the end of the week Naruto lay on the floor of his workroom, exhausted. And for the small bundle of energy, exhausted meant _exhausted_.

Naruto had spent the past several days attempting to get his Henge seals to work. It had been nearly impossible, but in the end he'd accomplished his goal. Or at least he hoped he had; he still needed to test out the final product. Speaking of which...

With a series of grunts Naruto managed to drag himself off the floor. Despite his screaming muscles he stumbled over to a cracked mirror inserted in one wall. He then took one of the seals in his hand and channeled a relatively small amount of chakra into it. Naruto waited and...

...Nothing happened.

The chakra went into the seal and then simply dissipated. His appearance didn't change.

The blonde glared down at the seal, furious. '_How could this happen?'_ his mind screamed.

He'd been so sure that it'd work this time, so sure that he'd finally gotten it right. He didn't have any more time to experiment; he had to be able to perform the jutsu by _tonight_. And failure was _not_ an option.

Naruto was about to stomp back over to the scrolls when suddenly his steps faltered and he glanced back over to the mirror. What if...What if the seal just required more physical contact? Explosion tag seals only needed chakra to be channeled into them to work, but the Henge Jutsu worked on a single person, so obviously it would work differently. It would make sense for the chakra to just dissipate if it didn't have a direction to go in.

Well, it was worth a shot at least. Hesitantly at first, Naruto brought his hand up and slapped the seal on the center of his chest and then held it there so that all of the paper was in contact with his skin. Then, while holding his breath, he channeled his chakra into the seal.

He promptly gasped in surprise. It felt as though an electric shock had run through his body. It didn't really hurt, but it certainly was surprising. This shock was completely forgotten however, when he glanced up at the mirror.

It had worked! Instead of his normal blue-eyed, blonde haired visage his reflection was now that of a nondescript dark eyed and dark haired boy. The whisker-like scars on his cheeks had also disappeared and his face was a bit narrower than normal. In short, he looked completely different.

Mindless of his earlier exhaustion, Naruto let out a triumphant yell. He'd succeeded! That in itself was worth more than getting into the Academy ever would.

* * *

Not a half an hour later, Naruto stood outside of The Building with a wide grin on his face. There were more shinobi guards around than usual, he noticed, but this time he simply ignored their presence. Instead, he flounced up to the front doors and confidently stepped inside.

This time the front room was not empty, but instead a black-clad kunoichi sat inside, reading from a scroll. Once Naruto had entered she stared blankly at him for several long moments before realization dawned in her eyes and she began to chuckle in amusement.

The kunoichi spoke no words, but stood fluidly from her seat and beckoned Naruto with one hand. Still chuckling, she began to lead him further into the complex.

Within several minutes—during which time they made so many twists and turns that Naruto was invariably lost. He wasn't even sure if they were on ground level anymore!—the kunoichi brought Naruto to a hallway lined with doors. She stopped before one that was just as indistinguishable as the rest, knocked solidly on it once, and then pushed the door open without waiting for a reply.

On the other side of the door was a small office containing one desk filled with paperwork and several large filing cabinets. Sitting behind the desk, working diligently, was none other than Ibiki.

The scarred Chuunin glanced up when the door opened, only to do a double take when he caught sight of Naruto, a look of shock appearing on his face. The kunoichi let out a few snickers and then swiftly left the room, closing the door behind her as she did so.

"No," Ibiki said once they were alone, "There's _no way_ you managed to master the jutsu!"

Grinning wordlessly, Naruto brought his hands up and began to run through the handseals for the Henge Jutsu. Instead of letting the handseals mold his chakra however, he channeled it into the seal on his chest, hidden beneath his shirt. As the jutsu activated this time the shock—more of a tingle really—didn't surprise him. If Ibiki's gaping visage was anything to go by however, his change certainly had shocked the man.

"Y-you mastered it?" Ibiki exclaimed. He opened and closed his mouth several times, looking as though he wanted to say something else, but never did. Finally, after several minutes, the Chuunin managed to compose himself. "Well, I did agree to help you," he said grudgingly, omitting the fact that he hadn't actually expected Naruto to succeed. "I'll help you get into the Academy. I'll even talk to the Hokage about it for you. I _won't_, however, be able to help you with getting the equipment and required books. You'll have to get the money for that on your own."

Naruto quickly nodded his agreement. "Of course. What else do I have to do?" he asked.

Ibiki let out a sigh. "Nothing, at this point. Come around again in a few weeks and I should have you registered for the Academy. Oh, and Naruto? _Don't_ tell anyone that I've helped you…It'll ruin the reputation that I've been trying to build."

* * *

With his "get into the Academy" plan fulfilled, Naruto was faced with just one last problem: how to get money for equipment. The monthly stipend he received was barely even enough for him as it was, so he was going to have to find some other way to get the cash.

And so Naruto tried his hand at poker. And failed miserably. It seemed that while he was getting to be an expert at reading other people, he couldn't hide his own emotions to save his life. Naruto decided to continue to play poker in order to practice, but he was going to have to find some other way to make money for the time being.

Naruto then turned to the only other option he could think of: getting a job. The problem with this was that no one would hire a six year old. It was only through Haru's recommendation that he managed to procure a job working for a blacksmith.

The work was simple enough—fetching things for Kenmaru, the blacksmith, cleaning blades, cleaning the shop, stocking the shelves, etc—but it paid good money. Naruto also had a deal with Kenmaru to get all of his equipment from the shop when fall came, and with it the start of school.

* * *

Naruto groaned as he wiped the sweat from his forehead for what seemed like the hundredth time. It was always sweltering in the blacksmith's shop that he worked in, but with it now being mid July as well, the heat was almost unbearable.

Naruto let out a small breath of air and swiftly moved to his feet from where he'd been crouched in front of a shelf, stacking a few small boxes on top of each other. He only had to finish tidying up the front part of the shop—the back part was the smithy where Kenmaru worked while the front was the store—and then he could leave for the day. He only had a little bit more to do so it shouldn't be very long...

At that moment the bells attached to the front door rang, signaling someone's entrance. Naruto jerked up, surprised, and then quickly began to maneuver his way around the shelves toward the door.

"Kenmaru-senpai is in the back right now," the young boy called out as he approached, "If you'll just wait a moment I can go get him and—"

Naruto halted abruptly as he came in sight of the front door. Standing there was a nervous young girl about his age with long brown hair. The blonde blinked in surprise at seeing such a young girl in a blacksmith's shop, and she seemed to be just as surprised to see him.

"Oh," Naruto said blankly. "You're just a kid. What are you doing here?"

The girl drew back, surprised. "Hey!" she exclaimed, "You're young too and _you're_ here!"

"Yeah, but you're a _girl_."

"So?" the girl snarled, stomping her foot, "_I'm_ already in the Shinobi Academy. I'm starting my second year in September! I haven't seen _you_ at the Academy."

Naruto flushed bright red. "That's because I'm starting this year. I'm just six right now!"

"Ha!" The girl pointed at the Naruto triumphantly. "I'm seven and will be eight in March. I'm older than you _and_ a better shinobi!"

"Stupid! You're not a shinobi yet! And who says you're better than me? I could beat you with my eyes closed!"

"Oh yeah? Just try to scratch me!"

"Is there a problem here?" another voice suddenly said, instantly breaking up the small fight between the two children.

Naruto froze for just a second before quickly ducking his head in embarrassment. He peeked between his long blonde bangs up at the man standing next to them. He was somewhat tall, reaching just over six feet, and had a wiry frame. He had graying hair, a crooked nose, and a pointed little goatee. He looked more like a shinobi than a blacksmith, but his muscles held surprising strength.

"S-sorry, Kenmaru-senpai..." Naruto said while ducking his head again. Even without looking he could feel the elder man's steel colored eyes boring into him.

"You know better than this, Naruto-chan," Kenmaru scolded. "Always treat _all_ customers with utmost respect."

Naruto flinched as the blacksmith's words. "Yes, Kenmaru-senpai."

Kenmaru released a slow sigh. "Go clean up the back, Naruto-chan. I'll deal with things here."

Wordlessly, Naruto ducked his head once more and then quickly fled from the scene.

Despite this embarrassing first encounter, the young girl returned to the shop again not a week later. Naruto and the girl's—Tenten, she told him—encounter was much quieter this time, and they quickly got into talking about weaponry.

"I want to become a weapon master!" Tenten exclaimed happily. "That's why I'm here. To check out prices. My father said he'd pay for the weapons I want. But only a couple right now..."

Naruto titled his head to the side in confusion. "A 'weapon master'? What's that mean?"

"It's a shinobi who specializes in using weapons. Kinda like how a Taijutsu master specializes in Taijutsu."

"But..." Naruto said while tapping his chin thoughtfully, "Won't that narrow the field of what you can do?"

Tenten shrugged. "Maybe, but it's much more interesting. And you don't have to use jutsu to be deadly! ...What about you? Would _you_ rather be a jack-of-all-trades or something?"

Naruto took a moment to seriously consider this. "Maybe," he mused. The thought of his seals danced through his mind and he wondered if he'd rather be a seal master. "Maybe..."

"Naruto?" Tenten asked while waving a hand in front of Naruto's eyes. The blonde jumped in surprise and then realized that he must have been lost in thought.

"Ah, sorry!" Naruto exclaimed. He turned around and began leading Tenten through some of the shelves. "Come on, you said that you wanted to look at some of the ninjato and katana, right?"

Tenten nodded happily. "Mmhmm! And some of the axes too. And maybe some sickles..." The brown haired girl paused to glance at Naruto. "Hey, Naruto..."

"Hmm?"

"Why...why are you working here? You're only six years old after all."

Naruto stopped suddenly, but didn't turn to look at the young girl. His head hung down so that his expression was shadowed and suddenly Tenten felt a wave of apprehension wash over her.

Was it a taboo subject? Should she have not asked?

To Tenten's surprise, when Naruto finally rose his head and looked at her there was smile on his face so wide that his eyes were closed. "It's just good practice is all!" the blonde replied. "If I'm going to be a shinobi then it's good to know a lot about weapons! Plus it's nice to have extra money, even as a kid."

Tenten let out a sigh of relief and then quickly brightened. "Well, come on!" she said while rushing ahead of the blonde. "Let's go look at those blades."

As Tenten moved ahead of him, Naruto's smile dropped and he opened his eyes to reveal that they were several shades darker than usual. The boy let out a nearly inaudible sigh.

Naruto didn't like deceiving Tenten like that, but...While the girl knew that he was an orphan, she really didn't understand just what it was like. To have to support yourself at such a young age...Kenmaru's shop was in a nicer part of town, so she also didn't know just where he lived and what his life was like. Naruto just didn't want to drop the burdens of his life onto her.

If he could cover his pain up with a smile, then he'd do so.

Chuckling quietly to himself, Naruto raced after Tenten.

* * *

"So, Naruto-chan, I 'eard dat ya made a new friend."

Naruto looked up at Tasuki in surprise. "Eh? How'd you know?"

Tasuki chuckled and took a bite of the ramen he was eating. Currently he and Naruto were sitting in Ichiraku Ramen, having lunch together. The scarred man claimed that it was because he didn't get to see Naruto much beyond the occasional poker game.

"Well," Tasuki said as he swallowed. "I 'eard it from 'aru who 'eard it from dat blacksmith guy ya work fer. Ken-whateva."

"Kenmaru," Naruto supplied instantly.

"Yeah, 'im. So it's true den?" Tasuki smirked down at Naruto. "Naruto-chan's got 'imself a girlfriend!"

Immediately Naruto began to protest furiously. "She's just a friend!" he said loudly, "And even then..." Naruto trailed off, staring at the ground.

Tasuki titled his head to the side curiously. "Hmm?"

"It- it's just that...Sometimes..."

"...Naruto-chan?"

Wordlessly, Naruto shook his head and returned to eating his ramen. "Nothing," he mumbled.

Tasuki stared down at the blonde curiously for a minute before finally shaking his head and turning away as well.

Naruto stared down into his food as he ate. Honestly...He wasn't entirely sure if he could call Tenten a friend. Sure, _she_ thought of him as a friend and came often to Kenmaru's shop, but...Sometimes Naruto wasn't sure if he could really get along with her. It was just little words here and small actions there that made him realize the difference between them.

Naruto had grown up in the world of adults. The people he was around every day were adults, often of the "worst" sort. Though he hadn't noticed it at first, this had caused Naruto to mature differently than most kids his age. He was already viewing the world from a different point of view than someone like Tenten, who had grown up with loving, shinobi parents.

Certainly Naruto still liked Tenten and would continue to hang out with her, but sometimes...Sometimes the difference in their maturity was just too great. And that made Naruto wonder: What was going to happen when he started attending school. How on earth was he going to get along with the other kids there?

* * *

A/N: Eh, I hope that the explanations about how seals work made sense, cause there will be a lot more about them in this story. If there's anything that anyone didn't understand, please don't hesitate to ask me!

Ergh, I didn't originally mean for there to be so many OCs in this story. Tasuki, Haru, and Kenmaru will be the main ones though, and the only ones you'll need to remember, so that shouldn't be a problem.

—S.R.


	5. Arc I :: Chapter 4 :: The Academy

Title: Failing Twilight  
Author: Shadow Rebirth  
Beta Reader: Rukia23  
Rating: T  
Warnings: Death, blood and gore, coarse language, adult themes, spoilers  
Chapter WC: 8,104  
Story WC: 20,137  
First Written: June 10, 2008  
Last Edited: February 21, 2009  
Posted: October 28, 2008  
Summary: Naruto had learnt from a young age that life could get hectic, but all this chaos with Biju, daimyos, and psychotic missing-nin was going a bit too far. Now just throw in a fourth Great Shinobi War and you've got one pissed off seal master. AU story. No pairings.

* * *

Failing Twilight

Chapter 4  
_The Academy_

* * *

Naruto's first day of school was a bit of a letdown in his opinion. He'd been so excited to enter the Academy, to be a shinobi, but nothing turned out the way he'd expected it to.

The first morning he raced to the Shinobi Academy with a smile on his face. He was wearing new clothes that he'd bought—namely a pair of dark green cargo pants that reached just past his knees, a black t-shirt, and a pair of shinobi sandals. With him he carried several sets of kunai and shuriken and the required textbook.

When the blonde reached the building he found many parents and their children milling around. He slowed down to a trot but didn't allow his excitement to diminish. They may not be with him, but Kenmaru, Haru, Tasuki, and everyone else at the Black Wolf Tavern had already wished him luck the night before.

Naruto easily weaved his way through the crowd and to the front doors. Ibiki had told him that he needed to go to Room 108, so he made his way there. Along the way he eyed the other children that he came across; they would be his classmates for the next five or so years.

The first disappoint that Naruto encountered was at the beginning of class when their teacher announced that they wouldn't be doing anything practical until the next year; the first Academy year would be spent learning the basics that all civilians learned, including reading, writing, math, etc. Naruto was impatient to get to the actual shinobi stuff, but there was nothing that he could do about it.

Following that the rest of the day continued to go downhill. Not only was everything that they talked about boring and stuff that he already knew, but when he attempted to read the textbook to learn something new, the teacher—who'd been ignoring him up until that point—immediately caught him and then spent the next ten minutes lecturing him about paying attention while the rest of the class snickered.

Because of these events the children in his class ignored him when they were let outside for lunch, out of fear of earning the teacher's ire as well. Even those who might have become friends with the blonde then stayed away from him. Naruto spent a little while speaking with a couple of older students while eating a lunch of packaged ramen—the cheapest thing he could buy—but found that, just as he feared, he couldn't quite connect with them. He'd spent so much time around adults that he was no longer sure how to deal with kids his own age.

Despite the great flop that was his first day of school, Naruto returned the next morning with the same excited and determined attitude. He'd spent so much effort trying to get into the Academy that he wasn't going to quit now. He would become a shinobi even if it killed him.

* * *

The next few months were...interesting...for Naruto, to say the least. Though he tried to follow along with the lessons, boredom paired with the innate dislike that his teachers seemed to have for him generally hindered this. Eventually Naruto found himself studying outside of class more often than not. This led to him occasionally falling asleep in class when he'd spent the previous night up late—usually either reading from his textbook or experimenting with seals.

Strangely enough, Naruto's teachers didn't seem to mind him sleeping in class. If anything they were glad for it because it meant that they didn't have to deal with the blonde haired child. Because of this discovery Naruto's life quickly fell into a rhythm of doing his work outside of school and then catching up on sleep in school. It was very beneficial for him.

The only problem with this was that Naruto's grades suffered. Sure, he tended to ace all the tests they took, but his sleeping in class coupled with the occasional times he skipped school all together caused his participation grades to be almost nonexistent.

Naturally, this led to Naruto's grades hanging in the middle range—he wasn't failing but neither was he excelling. Honestly, Naruto couldn't bring himself to care. After all, it was what _he_ learned that mattered, not what they said about him on paper.

As fall passed and winter set in, life settled down and Naruto found himself enjoying it.

* * *

With a yawn Naruto stretched his hands above his head. Considering the late hour the seven year old had a very good reason to be yawning.

Naruto was sitting on the smooth floor of his workroom, papers spread out around him. The boy was shirtless despite the fact that it was currently the dead of winter, mainly because he'd recently been exercising and had worked up quite a sweat. The basements held heat in surprisingly well though—better than his old apartment had, anyway.

Naruto let out another yawn and then peered blearily down at the small piece of paper in his hand; a Henge seal, to be precise. Naruto had been spending his evening trying to get the Henge to work with handseals. Of course, he'd been unsuccessful.

Naruto was not comforted by this in the slightest. While it was true that he could just use drawn seals for the jutsu, he wanted—no, _needed_—to be able to perform them with handseals. The blonde knew from personal experience that fights were very unpredictable and one couldn't simply take the time to draw up a seal in the middle of battle—especially not when the slightest mistake could cause it to blow up in your face. Naruto had already had _that_ experience more than enough already, thank you very much. It was for this very reason that handseals had been invented; they were so much more practical.

Naruto set the Henge seal down on the floor, next to several others. Ibiki had mentioned to him once—Naruto still bugged the Chuunin almost weekly, half for homework help, half because it was just so much _fun_—that chakra control was vital when it came to performing jutsu. As knowledge about seals as the boy was, he understood this. The only problem was actually learning how to control his chakra. It really was too bad that they wouldn't be even _talking_ about chakra for another year in the Academy. If only there was another way for him to learn...

Naruto pushed those thoughts to the back of his head and began to go through the handseals for the Henge jutsu, forming them with surprising speed for a seven year old. The only thing that he could do now was practice the jutsu in hope of making a breakthrough, so practice he would.

Just as Naruto began to channel chakra, the blonde came to an abrupt halt. His hands held up in mid-seal, he stared at the smooth expanse of his abdomen. He could have sworn that he'd seen something there, if only for a moment. But surely he'd just imagined it...

The young boy focused back on his hands and restarted the handseal for the Henge jutsu, only to quickly halt again. There! He'd definitely seen something this time, if only from the corner of his eye. Hesitantly the blonde poked his stomach and then let out a somewhat relieved breath of air when nothing happened.

Naruto took several moments to glare down at his stomach. Dammit! He knew he'd seen _something_ there! How could it just disappear and then reappear like that?

Realization struck Naruto like a bolt of lightning. Both times he'd been performing handseals, so maybe...Without looking up Naruto began to run through the handseal once more. Instantaneously a black shape flared into existence on his skin.

Even though he'd been half expecting it, Naruto let out a yelp of surprise and inadvertently cut off the flow of chakra. As he did so the...tattoo—for Naruto didn't really know what else to call it—disappeared.

For several long moments Naruto sat perfectly still, his heart beating wildly in his chest. What in Kami's name had that been? He was tempted to ignore the strange occurrence and get back to his studying in hopes that it'd go away, but of course it wasn't long before his natural curiosity overrode this. Besides, it'd been on his body, so surely it couldn't be dangerous.

With building confidence, Naruto once again began to channel his chakra—and this time held it. Before Naruto's wide eyes the tattoo sprang up.

Curious, Naruto eyed the strange shape closely. And promptly let out gasp. That was no tattoo. It was a seal! An insanely complex seal unlike anything he'd ever seen before. But...Why was there a seal on his abdomen? And why—scratch that, _how_—did it only show up when he channeled chakra?

Naruto let out a sigh as he released his chakra and let his hands drop into his lap. Great. As if his life hadn't been hectic enough already without adding strange seals into the mix.

Following his discovery Naruto began to put a lot of energy into figuring out what the seal on his stomach was. He started out by carefully copying the seal onto paper and then began the lengthy process of taking the seal apart piece by piece to figure out what it did. Considering the complexity of the seal, that was going to take _quite_ a while.

Before long however, Naruto ran into a major roadblock: As much as he knew about seals, all of that knowledge came from a single scroll and his experiments. And that wasn't anywhere _near_ enough to unravel this seal.

So imagine Naruto's joy when he learned one day in the Academy that Konoha had a library where all sorts of information was stored. Including information on seals.

The second school let out—well, an hour before it did, to be honest, but that didn't matter to Naruto—the blonde rushed over to the library. And was promptly denied access. As it turned out, the library was for shinobi only, which meant that you had to have a shinobi ID card to get in. Of course there _was_ a public library, but Naruto knew beyond the shadow of a doubt the kind of information that he was looking for wouldn't be there.

Faced with this problem, Naruto decided to try to find another way into the library. Naturally. Tasuki had told him once, almost a year ago now, that one often just had to look at a problem from another point of view. Naruto intended to do just that.

* * *

Step by step Naruto slowly inched his way along a smooth wall. When he came to the corner of the building he peeked his head around it and quickly glanced over the alley there. Only once he was sure that no one was there did he slip quietly into the alley.

Naruto continued to move flush against the wall while inside the alley. He was behind the library now, so all he needed to do was find an entrance and—

Before his thoughts could go any further Naruto's foot suddenly brushed against glass. Glancing down in surprise, the boy found that there was a small window where the building met the ground, the type meant to give ventilation to basements. He crouched down and, with only a small push, managed to open the window. Naruto rolled his eyes; it figured that shinobi would focus so much attention on rooftops, where _they_ frequented, and that they would ignore the ground.

Though it took a bit of wriggling around, Naruto was a small enough boy that he was able to fit through the thin window. Once through, the he dropped to the floor in heap. He lay there for a moment before pushing himself to his feet with a grumble. At least no one had been there to hear him. He really needed to work on his landing...

Due to the small amount of light shining through the small window and two others like it, Naruto was able to look around the room. It _was_ a basement, but a rather large one filled with countless bookshelves. Due to the lack of dust he figured that this was just the lower level of the library.

Moving swiftly in case anyone had heard his entry, Naruto began to scan the bookshelves. It took almost a half an hour of fruitless searching—though, granted, he _had_ found a couple of books and scrolls that he was interested in reading—before the blonde struck gold: Tucked away in one of the corners was a section on sealing. While there weren't any advanced texts there, it was still more than he could have hoped for.

A large grin on his face, Naruto settled down on the floor to read.

* * *

When Naruto yawned for the fourth time in just as many minutes he decided that it was time to head home. He'd had a very productive night after all and he'd be able to come back every night that he wanted to, now that he'd found a way in.

Naruto clambered to his feet and stretched his arms in the air as another yawn cracked his jaw. Yep, definitely time to go home. He swiftly replaced the texts he'd been using and then headed back over to the window. With only a little bit of difficulty—and liberal use of the nearby bookshelf as a ladder, he managed to get back outside.

The young boy moved quietly through the alley as he had while searching for an entrance. He got to the corner of the building and started to peer around—

—Only to freeze in shock as a black-clad shinobi with spiky obsidian hair landed in a crouch before him. The man looked over his should as if expecting to be followed and barely even glanced at Naruto before moving to jump away again. Except that he didn't.

Instead that dark man did a double take and began to stare at the blonde child. After only a minute he suddenly began to chuckle. Naruto gulped; the laughter was _not_ a pleasant sound.

"Well, well, what's this?" the man asked somewhat smugly. As he spoke he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall in a position that was relaxed but also seemed to scream "Danger!" to Naruto. The blonde desperately wanted to run away but it felt as though his feet had been glued to the ground.

What terrified Naruto the most about the shinobi was his eyes. They were blood red with a strange geometrical shape inside them. Pure malice radiated from those eyes and Naruto felt as though it'd be better to die standing where he was rather than have to continue to stare into those bottomless pits of hell.

Fortunately Naruto's train of thought was broken by another bout of laughter from the terrifying man. "Uzumaki Naruto," the dark haired shinobi mused and Naruto gulped again. How the hell did he know his name? "It'd be a shame to have to kill you," he continued. "Though I suppose that will come in due time."

Naruto's confusion increased exponentially and he felt a small amount of anger beginning to well up within him. What the hell was he talking about? How could he mention killing him so casually?

The man seemed to pick up on Naruto's confusion and a dark smirk curled at the corners of his lips. "I suppose you wouldn't know, mm?" he murmured. "Well then allow me to explain. You see, I am Uchiha Madara, formally of the Uchiha clan." The man, Madara, paused here as if that was some private joke. "I am the leader of a very special organization called Akatsuki. I _am_ the most powerful shinobi in the world and my power shall only be increased once we manage to gather all the Biju in this world!"

"Why should I care? What does that matter to me?" Naruto managed to spit out. In hindsight it was fairly stupid to antagonize a man as clearly unbalanced as Madara was, but at the time he'd been fueled by fear and anger.

"Why, Naruto-chan, you should care very much," Madara respond with a dark smile. "After all, it concerns you. You, are the container for the Kyuubi no Kitsune."

Naruto's eyes widened in shock. "W-what? What are you—?"

Madara released a laugh that sounded more than a bit insane. "Why Naruto-chan, haven't you noticed?" the man began while taking a step forward. Naruto attempted to take a step back but in his terror and confusion tripped over his feet and fell back onto the cold ground. "You're not entirely human. You see, the Yondaime couldn't kill the Kyuubi—Biju are immortal, after all. So instead he had to seal it inside of something. And that something was you."

"You, you— you're lying!" Naruto stammered desperately. He didn't want to believe a word Madara was saying but inside of him memories of cold stares from the villagers, of his strange healing ability, and of the strange seal came to his mind unbidden. '_Oh Kami,_' the young boy shuddered as bile rose in his throat. '_Oh _Kami_, no!_'

"You know the truth," Madara pushed on, despite the child's reaction. He took two more steps forward but Naruto once again found himself frozen in place as he stared up at the shinobi before him. "And it's a good thing that you do know. As I said my organization will be collecting all the Biju. But unfortunately this has turned out to be quite a bit easier and duller than I'd expected. No one's been able to put up a good enough fight...

"So, Naruto-chan, we won't be coming for you quite yet. Don't doubt for a second that we _will_ come, just not yet." Madara crouched down in front of Naruto and smirked at the terrified boy, his crimson eyes whirling. "But now that you know what you are and what will happen, I expect you to grow strong. Grow into your potential as a Jinchuuriki, Naruto-chan. Then when we do come for you maybe you'll put up enough of a fight to actually be interesting!"

The Uchiha threw back his head and let out a harsh, bark-like laugh. Then the man disappeared without even a whisper of a sound, leaving a terrified child lying on the ground with his heart pounding in his ears.

The next day Uchiha Sasuke, one of Naruto's classmates, didn't come to school. Two days later Naruto would find out why.

The Uchiha clan had been massacred.

* * *

The evening after Naruto's fateful encounter with Uchiha Madara found the young blonde sitting on a barstool in the Black Wolf Tavern. His face was uncharacteristically solemn and his eyes were glued to the wood of the counter before him.

Haru had left Naruto alone for the past few hours, hoping that the boy would be able to work out whatever was bothering him. Once it became clear that this was not going to be the case however, the middle-aged barkeeper had someone go fetch Tasuki. Hopefully _he_ would be able to help Naruto.

When Tasuki arrived he made a beeline for Naruto. He said nothing however, even as he took a seat at the bar next to the blonde. Naruto glanced up once at the man before looking back down, still silent.

The two sat like this for several minutes until Naruto was startled by a sudden motion from Tasuki. He jumped and stared at the man, but quickly relaxed when it turned out that Tasuki was just pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. The scarred man took a long drag and then turned to stare at Naruto as he released the smoke.

"So," he said finally. "What's up?"

Naruto glanced back down at the bar counter, but found that he couldn't go back to his silence, not with Tasuki staring at him like he was. Finally, after several tense moments the blonde let out a sigh and turned around to fully face his older friend.

"Am I the container for the Kyuubi?" Naruto asked bluntly.

Whatever Tasuki had been expecting, it hadn't been that. The scarred man chocked slightly and then let out several harsh coughs while pounding on his chest. As he did so he quickly glanced around the room to make sure that no one had heard what the boy had said.

Meanwhile, Naruto let out a sigh. Tasuki's reaction had pretty much confirmed what Madara had told him. "So it's true," he muttered quietly, resigning himself to being a "Jinchuuriki", as Madara had called him. Of course he'd already come to this conclusion on his own—with the seal on his stomach, his whisker marks, and the "coincidence" of his birthday being on the day of the Kyuubi's attack, among other things, there wasn't much room for doubt—but it was nice to have it confirmed anyway.

Tasuki looked at the blonde hesitantly. His eyes searched Naruto's face for any signs of what had brought this up, but all he found there was resignation and grim determination. Tasuki echoed Naruto's sigh with one of his own. Oh boy, he hadn't thought that he'd have to have _this_ conversation.

"Yeah," Tasuki said quietly. He leaned over the counter, his arms crossed on the wood before him, but met Naruto's gaze without flinching. "You are."

"Why...Why wasn't I ever told."

"There's a law...One that I'm probably breaking right now just by speaking to you about it," Tasuki replied with a snort. "But it's not like I've never broken the law before. Anyway, after the...sealing...the Sandaime made a law saying that no one could speak about what had happened on pain of death. It was written down in the history books that the Yondaime had killed the Kyuubi instead of sealing it away."

Naruto nodded absently as he mulled over this information in his mind. He couldn't help but wonder why the Sandaime had done this; wouldn't it be easier to just kill him and be done with it?

"This whole Jinchuuriki thing actually explains a lot," Naruto said quietly, almost to himself. Tasuki watched the blonde from the corner of his eye as he spoke but didn't interrupt. "As an orphan I lived the first four years of my life in an orphanage. I was treated fine and got along great with the other kids, but the adults always seemed...hesitant around me. They dealt with me as little as they could and tended to ignore me when possible. When I was four I was given an apartment to live in, which usually doesn't happen until orphans are quite a bit older. I was told that it was because there were so many orphans that they had too little room—which _was_ true—but now I can see that it was because they wanted to get me out of there."

Tasuki reached over and ruffled Naruto's hair. "Yeah, well you're with us now, kid. And I'm sorry to say that once the red-light district sinks its teeth into ya, it never let's go."

Naruto let out a bright laugh and ducked away from Tasuki's hand. "I wouldn't have it any other way," he agreed, his spirits suitably lifted.

"Oi, Haru!" Tasuki called while motioning the barkeeper over. "How about some saké, eh? I think that Naruto-_kun_ is finally starting to grow up, and what better way to celebrate?"

Naruto continued to laugh even as a traditional wooden cup was shoved into his hands. And if there was a somewhat hysteric and relieved note in his voice, no one commented on it. Here, he was accepted.

* * *

As winter turned into spring Naruto threw himself into his training with more enthusiasm than most humans had. Previously he'd been training and studying because he wanted to become an ANBU. Now, however, he had a motivation that far outstripped that: Survival.

Naruto knew without the shadow of a doubt that Uchiha Madara and this "Akatsuki" _would_ come for him one day. And as weak as he currently was, he wouldn't survive another such encounter. So instead Naruto began to train past his breaking point in hopes that when the day came that he had to face those crimson eyes again, he'd be ready.

Despite his fear, Naruto told no one of his encounter with Madara. Half of this was because he wasn't even sure if anyone would believe him, but it was also because it was _his_ problem to deal with. Naruto didn't want to get anyone else involved with the mad Uchiha.

Due to his suddenly insane training and study regimen Naruto found himself spending less and less time at the Academy. Instead he practically moved into the library and spent all of his time researching seals and, once the second year of the Academy started, jutsu.

Also with the start of fall came two major accomplishments that Naruto was quite proud of: One, he managed to perform the Henge jutsu with handseals. He was beyond pleased with this, considering the amount of time spent mastering the jutsu. Two was that he finally found out _why_ it had been so difficult for him to perform jutsu with handseals.

As it turned out, Naruto had atrocious chakra control. It was normal for children to have very little control over their chakra, but Naruto's was _far_ worse than normal. Now that he better understood how chakra worked, the boy realized that he had a massive amount of chakra. And with large amounts of energy came little control.

The problem was that Naruto didn't know how to fix this. So instead he turned to one thing that he _did_ know how to do, and quite well at that. Namely, annoying Ibiki.

"_Please_," Naruto whined as he followed the older Chuunin through the streets of Konoha's shopping district. "Please Ibiki!"

"Dammit, Naruto! No! No, no, no!" Ibiki snarled in reply. He didn't even turn around to face his antagonist.

"But you have before, why not now?" the blonde asked. Though it wouldn't be clear to anyone passing by, he was attempting to get Ibiki to give him another jutsu scroll. The man had done so several times before, but he was refusing point blank now.

Ibiki made a sharp turn and stopped in front of a fruit stand. He glared heavily at Naruto, causing the boy to quail slightly and take a step back, before turning back to the stand and surveying the apples laid out there.

"The price is a little high. Where are these from?" the shinobi asked gruffly.

The vendor smiled widely. "Rain Country," the man replied. "They're the best in the elemental countries, which is why they're so much. You pay for quality after all."

Ibiki grumbled a little bit about overpriced fruit but finally let out a sigh a paid for a half a dozen apples. Once they were tucked away in a bag the Chuunin continued down the street with Naruto trailing along behind him.

"You shouldn't have bought them," Naruto said suddenly.

Ibiki threw another glare over his shoulder. "Why the hell not?"

"Because they weren't from Rain Country."

Now _this_ caught Ibiki's attention. And his curiosity, if he was being honest with himself. Releasing an inaudible sigh the tall Chuunin turned to Naruto.

"And how precisely do you know this?" he questioned.

Naruto grinned broadly. "It's all in the eyes and the voice; that man's eyes flickered to the left before he spoke, meaning he was trying to think of something and his voice changed slightly as he spoke of the apples' origin. If ya pay attention to someone's face it can be easy to tell if they're lying, especially if they are someone as open as that man. Those apples are probably from somewhere around Fire Country but the vendor is trying to make more money by jacking up the price claiming that they're from Rain Country."

For several long moments Ibiki stared at the Academy student before him. "I'm going to give you a statement," he finally said. "And I want you to tell me whether I'm lying or not."

Naruto stared strangely at Ibiki but eventually just shrugged. "Sure. Whatever."

"I have an older brother who's a shinobi," Ibiki stated. His face was so blank that it could have been carved from stone, but that didn't stop Naruto from picking up a few hints anyway.

Naruto titled his head to the side and studied Ibiki for almost a minute. Finally, a smile broke across his face. "You _do_ have a sibling and they _are_ a shinobi," he said, much to Ibiki's surprise. "But...I don't think it's an older brother." He paused to stare at the Chuunin again. "It's a younger brother, isn't it?"

Ibiki blinked. And then blinked again. And then a third time. Suddenly he threw his head back and began to laugh, causing many people around them to jump in surprise and then hurry away while throwing nervous glances at the man.

"Damn, kid," Ibiki muttered once he'd calmed down. "I never expected that from _you_. How'd you know it was a younger brother?"

"I didn't," Naruto replied with a cheeky grin. "It was a guess, one that you just confirmed."

Ibiki let out another round of harsh laughter. "Where'd you learn to read people like that?"

"Poker."

"Poker?"

"Poker. It's essential to be able to tell if your opponents are lying."

"Hmm..." Ibiki said while rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "I'd never thought of it that way. Seems like a good way to learn though...Tell ya what, I've got a deal for you. I'll give you a scroll on psychology if, _if_, you agree to help me out with a few cases."

"Cases?" Naruto asked, instantly perking up.

"Yep. I'm a part of Leaf Village's Intel department. A human lie detector like you could really be of some help. So, you up for it?"

"Hell yeah!" Naruto exclaimed, pumping a fist in the air.

Ibiki chuckled at the blonde's antics. "Alright then," he replied. "Come by my office tomorrow morning and I'll give you the scroll."

Naruto nodded eagerly and then, shouting his thanks, ran off. Ibiki just shook his head in amusement.

* * *

Almost as soon as Naruto left, Ibiki headed over to the Hokage Tower. He had to wait a half an hour because the Sandaime was in a meeting, but soon enough he was once again standing before the elder shinobi.

"No trouble, I hope?" Sarutobi asked with a raised eyebrow and a small smile.

"Not at all, Hokage-sama," Ibiki responded smoothly. "As a matter of fact I have something to request of you. Today I found out that Naruto-chan is actually quite adept at reading people. He even managed to figure out whether or not _I_ was lying."

Sarutobi folded his hands beneath his chin and studied the Chuunin before him. "Interesting...But what is it that you're requesting?"

Ibiki's back straightened slightly. "I...I'm interested in possibly putting Naruto's...ability...to use. Very few shinobi have the ability to read others to such extent, though we all know how much of a disadvantage one could be at against such an opponent—that's a part of the reason why ANBU wear masks, after all."

"You wanted to use Naruto in interrogations?" the Sandaime asked sharply.

"Not until he's much older," Ibiki answered quickly. "For now I want him to train the ability by looking for inconstancies in profiles, transcripts, and perhaps have him listen to the recordings some light interrogations. Eventually we could bring him in on civilian questionings. At this point his age can only help him because people will underestimate him and thus unwittingly be more open."

For a while the Sandaime didn't speak and Ibiki was almost sure that he was going to reject the idea. Thus when a wide smile broke over the Hokage's face and he began to nod, Ibiki was surprised.

"Yes," Sarutobi mused, sounding quite pleased. "I think that that's a very good idea. It will ease Naruto-chan into the shinobi world as well; he won't be so suddenly woken up to the dangers of the world as many children are. Also..." The older man stood suddenly and began walking towards the door. "Come with me; I have something I'd like for you to give him."

* * *

So great was his excitement that Naruto was at The Building by the time the sun rose the next morning. He was easily able to navigate through the halls on his own now because he'd been here so many times before, and made it to Ibiki's office in only a couple of minutes. The Chuunin was there, bent over some papers on his desk.

"Ibiki-san!" Naruto exclaimed while slamming his hands down on the desk. The older man only grunted and didn't look up from his work. "Ibiki! You promised me that scroll!"

"It's on the desk."

Naruto blinked in surprise and his eyes quickly caught sight of two medium-sized scrolls lying only inches from his hands. The boy scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Um, right. But which one's mine?"

"Both of them."

Again Naruto found himself surprised. "Eh? Whaddaya mean?"

Ibiki snorted and finally glanced up at the blonde. "Exactly what I said," he replied with a smirk. "One of them is the psychology scroll I promised. The other...Well, the other is a gift."

Naruto stared openmouthed at the Chuunin. "A gift? _You're_ giving _me_ a gift?"

"No," Ibiki rolled his eyes, "_I'm_ not. And Kami knows I never will. It's from someone else."

The young Academy student's face scrunched up in confusion. "But— but who?"

"Figure it out on your own."

Naruto opened his mouth to retort angrily, only to close it with a huff. He glared at Ibiki, making his displeasure known, but the man only gave him another infuriating smirk.

"Fine!" Naruto finally snapped. His hands reached out and quickly snapped up the scrolls before Ibiki could change his mind and take them back. "I _will_ figure it out!"

With another huff, Naruto left a silently laughing Ibiki in his office.

* * *

It took Naruto less than half an hour to get back to his home. Once he was in his workroom his hands hesitated over the two scrolls, unsure as to which he should open first. Finally he shrugged and opened them both at the same time.

Just as Ibiki had said the first scroll was all about psychology. Naruto's eyes scanned over it in interest, but before long curiosity got the better of him and he transferred his attention onto the second scroll. Now _this_ one caught his attention.

The second scroll, it turned out, contained a single technique: **Kage Bunshin no jutsu** (_Shadow Clone Technique_). Hmm, Naruto thought as he read through the rather short scroll, now _this_ could have some good applications.

Surprisingly, it took Naruto only a few hours to learn the jutsu. He was only able to make a dozen clones with it before becoming exhausted, but that was more than enough. Naruto knew that the Academy taught the **Bunshin no jutsu** (_Clone Technique_), and now he was already a step ahead in that!

Naruto sat back with a smile as he watched the clones move around the room. Another upside was that the clones were great for manual labor; he'd never have to worry about cleaning up his home again. It was too bad that they could be dispelled so easily...

No sooner had this thought passed through Naruto's mind than one of the clones who'd been carrying a large stack of scrolls accidentally bumped into a tall bookshelf. A bookshelf whose top shelf contained a pile of kunai. When the clone bumped into the bookshelf several of these blades toppled from their perch. Most of them landed on the floor with a clatter, but one stabbed straight through the clone's foot.

A howl of pain ripped through the room before suddenly being cut off as the clone dispelled. Instantaneously, the real Naruto gasped in shock and pain and grasped at his foot. He hissed through clenched teeth for several moments before abruptly realizing that his foot didn't hurt.

Naruto slowly released his foot and stared down at it in surprise and confusion. What had just happened? He could remember being hurt, but now he wasn't—

Naruto's eyes widened. He could remember! He could remember what had happened to the clone as if it'd happened to him! This was— This was...!

Slowly a large, shit-eating grin spread across Naruto's face. This was _perfect_. With this jutsu he literally had copies of himself. Copies that knew everything that he knew upon their creation. Copies whose knowledge and experiences where instantly relayed to him when they where dispelled. He could study all he wanted, train all he wanted, _d_o whatever he wanted.

Of course, the best part of this immediately presented itself in his mind: Seal experimentation. By this time Naruto was more than aware of just how dangerous it was to experiment with seals. But if it was a clone that was doing the experimentation then that didn't matter! If the clone was killed, it wouldn't hurt him!

...Well, that wasn't entirely accurate. As he'd just painfully discovered, he would remember all of the clones' experiences when they were dispelled. _All_ of them. This meant that if a clone was killed, Naruto would remember dying. He would remember the terror and pain that accompanied those final moments, just as he remembered his clone's shock and fear as it'd watched that kunai descend on its foot.

The blonde shuddered. _That_ part of the clones really sucked. But...It would be worth it nonetheless. He would endure such pain for the bountiful results their use would yield.

* * *

By the time that Naruto's eighth birthday came and passed, Naruto found himself both more and less busy than usual. He now constantly had several clones in the library—though only at night, of course. He often sent a clone to attend the Academy for him, but only when they wouldn't be doing anything physical where it could get dispelled, like Taijutsu or target practice.

One of the upsides to having clones, Naruto had found, was that it gave him time to properly relax when he wanted to. This also led to him hanging around Ibiki even more than usual, but now that he was helping out at the Intelligence Headquarters—which he'd _finally_ found out was what The Building was—the Chuunin didn't mind so much. If anything, he was beginning to become _eager_ to help Naruto in honing his skills. The whole situation was quite unnerving to the blonde.

On one chilly November afternoon, Naruto was walking home from the Intelligence Headquarters. Just as he often did, he took a shortcut through a series of back allies in the red-light district. Though many dangerous figures lurked here, the blonde walked without fear; after all, he was personal friends with many of those "dangerous figures".

It was because of this that Naruto was caught completely by surprise when a pair of rough hands shot out from the mouth of a dark alley and latched onto him, dragging him into the darkness. Despite his shock, the boy immediately began to struggle against his capturer, lashing out with his legs and the one arm that wasn't being held behind his back, even as he desperately tried to reach the kunai in his pockets.

Naruto was greeted with a highly satisfying grunt of pain as one of his blows connected with his attacker's chin. The grime-covered older man took a few stumbling steps backward, but in only a moment was leaping at the blonde again.

"Give me your money, kid, and I won't hurt you!" the man snarled. In his hand a rusty dagger flashed in the waning twilight.

His face set as if carved from stone, Naruto drew a single kunai and began to circle the other man. Despite his shinobi training, the boy knew that the chances weren't good for him; this man was far larger and stronger than him, and doubtless also had countless years of experience in scuffles such as these. He needed to get out of there and _fast_, but the man was between him and the exit.

Finally Naruto made a lunge to get around the man. He was instantly blocked and their blades met with the screech that only metal on metal could make. From that close range the man lashed out with his fist, and Naruto quickly parried and replied in kind.

The next few seconds—though they seemed more like hours—were a blur of motion in Naruto's mind. All he could remember was fighting tooth and nail against his attacker and for the first time truly fearing for his life. He'd only ever fought against kids a few years older than him and was unprepared for just how outmatched he was when pitted against someone so much stronger. His shinobi training counted for nothing in this kind of a situation.

How exactly the fight ended, Naruto would never be sure. All he knew was that one moment he'd been fighting with the man and the next the two of them were on the ground still struggling. It took several moments for the blonde to realize, however, that it was only _he_ who was still struggling, while the other man lay suspiciously still.

Slowly, fearfully, Naruto stilled his movements. When the man's facedown position still didn't change, he let out a shaky breath and began the process of extracting himself from beneath the much heavier man. When he'd finally done so he sat, panting, while still staring at his attacker.

In a series of jerky movements Naruto crawled over to the motionless man. He paused only for a moment as his hands rested on the man's side before he rolled him onto his back in a single motion.

Naruto stared, his face completely free from expression as his mind grinded to a halt.

His kunai was buried up to the hilt in the man's chest, right where his heart would be. Crimson red blood was already staining the man's shirt around the blade and even as he stared was beginning to pool on the ground beneath him.

His mind still blank, Naruto's eyes slowly trailed from the man to his own hands. In a disturbing contradiction, his left hand was pristine and pale while his right was covered in thick, crimson red: Blood. It dripped down his arm, staining his clothes a dark shade, and Naruto knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that none of it belonged to him

This shock seemed to jumpstart Naruto's brain. As if to make up for lost time, it instantaneously began racing and thoughts flew through his mind so quickly he was barely able to catch onto them.

Naruto quickly scrambled away from the man—no, from the man's _corpse_—mumbling "No, no, _no_," over and over again under his breath. He— he hadn't meant to kill him! He'd only been trying to get away! They'd been struggling yes, and the man had been attempting to subdue him, but he hadn't actually meant to _kill_—

Naruto's thoughts broke up as bile rose in throat. The blonde scrambled onto his hands and knees and screwed his eyes closed as his stomach heaved.

Kami, he could _smell_ the blood. It seemed to be chocking up the alley. And the taste...he could taste copper in his mouth. His stomach heaved once more, knowing exactly what it was.

It was another ten minutes before a small, trembling blonde would stagger out from within the dark alley, his clothes stained with blood. Naruto followed his instincts and began to run blindly through the streets, intent on one location. Once he arrived there, in front of a dingy, crumbling apartment building, he immediately began to pound on the door.

"Tasuki! Tasuki!"

A moment later the door was yanked open and a bleary looking Tasuki stood in the doorway. "Naruto-kun?" he yawned. "What're ya doin' 'ere?"

Naruto didn't reply but instead practically threw himself at Tasuki, babbling incessantly. The older man stared down at him in shock even as the force of the boy pushed him to the ground.

"Naruto?" he grunted in surprise. His arms automatically wrapped around the blonde and attempted to pull up.

Tasuki could only catch pieces of what Naruto was sobbing. "I didn't mean to!" he was repeating over and over. "I swear I didn't!"

"Naruto!" Tasuki called again. "Naruto-kun, calm down! Please!"

It took another few minutes but finally the child wore himself out. He lay against Tasuki, breathing harshly while the scarred man pushed them up into a sitting position. Tasuki released a somewhat relieved sigh.

"Alright, now what is dis about, Naruto-kun? _What_ isn't yer fault?"

Naruto's eyes shot open in shock, as if he hadn't realized exactly what he'd been saying. Instantly the boy was up and scrambling away from Tasuki, who was left blinking in surprise.

Naruto's head whipped around, looking for an exit. "N-nothing!" he stammered. "Nothing! Everything's fine!"

Tasuki gave the eight year old a flat stare. "Bullshit. Dis ain't _nothing_. Now tell me, _what 'appened_?"

Naruto's mouth opened and closed several times. It was clear to Tasuki that the boy was still looking for a way out of this, so he leveled a glare at the boy.

"_Naruto_—"

"Alright! Alright!" the blonde finally exclaimed. He hung his head down and gulped. His eyes flickered to the door a few times, as if debating whether or not he could make a break for it without Tasuki catching him, but finally he took a few deep breathes and looked back up. "I— I...Something did happen...It...it started when I was walking home from my last meeting with Ibiki..."

Tasuki listened intently while Naruto spoke, never interrupting to ask questions even though he looked as though he desperately wanted to at some points. Finally, once Naruto had finished telling his tale, he let out a heavy sigh. His eyes were dark and sad, but Naruto could glean no more about his emotions other than that from his face.

Suddenly Naruto felt himself beginning to worry. Had he done the right thing in telling Tasuki? Was the man disappointed in him? Or angry? Was he going to scream that he was a murderer and drag him to the police? Was he—

"Naruto-kun," Tasuki said softly, breaking into the boy's thoughts. Naruto's head snapped upwards, staring at him with wide, fearful eyes. Tasuki repressed a groan; he was _not_ good at these sorts of things. "Naruto-kun," the dark haired man repeated. "It's alright."

With those words all of the tension seemed to drain from the blonde. He sucked in several shuddering breathes and wrapped his arms around himself, suddenly feeling very cold and very warm at the same time.

"But— But I...!"

Tasuki sighed once more and stared at a point off to the side. "...Life," he began slowly, "Can be...difficult. Throughout yer life ya will be forced to make decisions that ya'd rather not. But you _will_ have ta make these choices whether ya like it or not." Tasuki let out a bitter snort. "In a way, dat's all that life is: Choices. Ever connecting, ever changing choices. What ya must remember, however, is dat ya will never 'ave complete control over yer life. Even if ya always make da right choices, other people may make different ones, and these choices will 'ave an effect upon ya. All ya can do is adapt ta da moment and live life da best way ya know 'ow.

"Dat man...He made da choice ta attempt ta mug ya. Dat was _'is_ choice. Yer choice, upon being faced with such a situation, was ta fight back. Now tell me, 'ad ya not fought back, what do ya think would 'ave 'appened? Ya would not 'ave lived, I can assure ya; men such as dat rarely allow their victims ta live ta tell their tale. Ya knew dis, if unconsciously, and made da split second decision ta fight for yer life. It cost dat other man 'is life, yes, but ya managed ta survive in da end. Is a choice such as dis really a bad thing? Out of da two ya, isn't it best fer ya ta survive while a man like him dies?"

Naruto didn't have an answer for him.

* * *

A/N: Before anyone comments on the whole Madara telling Naruto about the Akatsuki thing, yes I _do_ believe that that's a realistic situation. The way I see it, Madara is an incredibly strong shinobi who, even if he lost to him, was on par with the Shodaime Hokage and who just got back from killing off one of Konoha's strongest clans. He knows he's powerful and believes that he'll be able to get the Kyuubi no matter what, so he figures that telling Naruto about it will spice up the situation a bit. He correctly reckons that telling Naruto will cause the boy to train himself, which in the end will present Madara with more of a challenge. Basically he's bored and self-assured.

—S.R.


	6. Arc I :: Chapter 5 :: The Vacation

Title: Failing Twilight  
Author: Shadow Rebirth  
Beta Reader: Rukia23  
Rating: T  
Warnings: Death, blood and gore, coarse language, adult themes, spoilers  
Chapter WC: 5,649  
Story WC: 25,786  
First Written: June 28, 2008  
Last Edited: February 21, 2009  
Posted: October 27, 2008  
Summary: Naruto had learnt from a young age that life could get hectic, but all this chaos with Biju, daimyos, and psychotic missing-nin was going a bit too far. Now just throw in a fourth Great Shinobi War and you've got one pissed off seal master. AU story. No pairings.

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Failing Twilight

Chapter 5_  
The Vacation_

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It could easily be said that Naruto was never the same after his first kill. Whether this was a good or a bad thing, however, could be debated. Either way, in the following week he was quiet and withdrawn and could often be found simply contemplating. Because of this, when a chance to take a break from his current life came, he eagerly took it.

"Wave Country?" Naruto asked Haru curiously.

The graying barkeeper nodded and chuckled. "Yeah, but I won't be there for long. I'll be back within two weeks."

"Who's going to look after the Black Wolf Tavern while you're gone though? And why are you going anyway?"

"There have been...problems...in Wave Country recently," Haru admitted. "Apparently some big shot company is destroying the economy there so that they can take over. The thing is, I have contracts to get my fish from there and if this company is messing with the economy, then it might interrupt my shipment. So I'm heading up there to personally escort the shipment back. It'll give me some kind of idea of just how bad things are gonna get. My cousin agreed to look after the tavern while I'm gone. Like I said, I won't be long."

Naruto stared past Haru with wide, thoughtful eyes. Wave Country...It was outside of the Leaf Village, outside of Fire Country. An entirely different country...

Naruto murmured something so quietly that Haru, standing barely a foot away, was unable to hear it. "Sorry?" he questioned. "What was that?

The blonde nervously cleared his throat and refused to meet Haru's eyes. "I said...Can I come?"

Haru blinked in surprise. "Come? To Wave Country with me, you mean?" he replied. Naruto stared up at him with wide, pleading eyes and it only took a few more seconds before his defenses crumbled. "Fine," he sighed. "I suppose it'll be okay...You're going to have to get permits to leave the village though."

"That's no problem!" Naruto said while smiling brightly. He turned on his heel and began to run out of the tavern. "I'll go pack right now!"

"Don't forget, we're leaving Wednesday morning!" Haru called after him. The blonde shouted some unintelligible reply and soon was out of sight, leaving Haru shaking his head and chuckling.

Indeed Naruto _did_ have a way to get the permits that he needed. Or rather, he had a person. And that night he confronted that person with a wide smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye.

"Ibiki!" Naruto called in a sing-song voice as he peeked his head in the man's office. Ibiki grunted without looking up from his work.

"Yeah? Whaddaya need, kid?"

"Oh, nothing much," Naruto replied as he slipped into the small room. He lightly crossed the floor and then stopped in front of the Chuunin's desk, his arms crossed before him.

For whatever the reason, those words seemed to strike a chord in Ibiki, he immediately glanced up, his mouth drawn in a tight line.

"Nothing? Really? Then, pray tell, what is this 'nothing'?"

Naruto's grin widened. "Just some permits to leave the Village. Ya know, basic stuff."

Ibiki cocked an eyebrow. "Permits? Why the hell are you leaving the Village?"

"It's only short term," Naruto quickly told him. "I'm just going to Wave Country for a couple of weeks with a merchant train. It's like a vacation or something."

Ibiki rolled his eyes, but finally sighed in defeat when Naruto began to stare pitifully at him. "Fine. I'll get you the damn permits," he said. "But..." A fairly disturbing, dark smile crossed his face. "You're going to have to do something for me."

Now it was Naruto's turn to be wary. The blonde eyed Ibiki for a moment, not sure whether or not it'd be a good idea to proceed when the man had a grin like that on his face. Finally however, his curiosity won out.

"Yes...?"

"You're going to handle my paper work for a month when you come back. And _properly_, mind you."

Naruto groaned. "Ibiki! That's not fair!"

"It damn well is! You and I both know perfectly well that it's illegal for me to give you those permits without you going through the proper channels, which would take months. And since you don't have any guardians, you'd most likely be denied. Hell, because of that I'm going to have to get you fake permits, which are beyond illegal for a civilian to hold."

"...But you'll get them, right? If I agree," Naruto said grudgingly.

Ibiki smirked. "Yes. _If_ you agree."

Naruto hesitated, gnawing on his lower lip, but they both knew what his answer would be.

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Come Wednesday morning Naruto was completely ready to leave, fake permits and all. Of course, since the permits _were_ fake, they required him to wear a Henge while leaving, in order to match his appearance with that on his new ID card.

A dark haired Naruto walked nervously alongside Haru as they approached the gates to the Leaf Village. Half of this nervousness was from fear that he'd be found out by the Chuunin guards stationed there, but the other half was from the anticipation of finally getting to see what was outside the Village.

"ID and permits," one of the Chuunin, a man in his late twenties, grunted out. He walked down the line of the merchant train--which consisted of three wagons filled with merchandise and at least twenty civilian men and four samurai guards--scanning the IDs as he went. He barely glanced over Haru and Naruto's before continuing on. Once he was out of sight Naruto let out an inaudible sigh of relief.

"Alright," a second guard called out. "All clear!"

At this signal the merchant train jerked to a start as the oxen team pulling it began to walk. Naruto's previous fear evaporated into the cool morning air as he began to jump up and down in excitement. Beside him, Haru chuckled in amusement.

Before very long the merchant train left Konoha far behind. Naruto craned his neck back, watching as the tall gates of the Village's walls disappeared from view.

"Don't worry," Haru murmured to the boy. "We'll be back soon enough."

The young boy scowled. "I'm not worried!" he replied loudly. "I've just never seen the Village from the outside before."

Haru chuckled while glancing at Naruto knowingly. The blonde's scowl deepened in annoyance.

Naruto spent most of the morning running back and forth along the merchant train, all the while chatting excitedly with different people, the four samurai in particular. He begged for them to show him their swords until they finally did. Though they were annoyed, they couldn't help but also be amused as the child let out gasps of amazement. Before long however, Naruto was naturally worn out. He may have been training as a shinobi for several years, but he was still only eight years old and wasn't used to walking for hours on end.

Upon noticing his charge's fatigue, Haru lifted the protesting boy up so that he could sit on the end of one of the wagons.

"I'm fine!" Naruto hollered while attempting to leap back to the ground.

"No," Haru said firmly, pushing the boy back down. "Save your strength for now, we're going to be on the road for several days." Of course Naruto pouted and refused to speak to Haru for the next half hour, but he relented nonetheless, knowing the wisdom of the barkeeper's words.

The next two days passed in a blur of excitement for Naruto. They spent the night sleeping outdoors, which was a first for Naruto. He had an incredibly fun time listening to the men as they swapped stories around a large bonfire that was set up. Most of those stories weren't really suitable for a kid's ears, but Naruto was more than used to it due to his upbringing and time spent in the Black Wolf Tavern.

By noon around the third day Naruto noticed that the air was beginning to feel heavier, as if it was weighed down by something. There was also a strange smell in the air, almost like...salt? Naruto nose wrinkled in confusion.

"Is something wrong, Yuurei-kun?" one of the samurai asked. Yuurei was the name that was on Naruto's ID and permits, and thus the name that he had to go by. It had been difficult to remember to answer to it at first, but Haru had helped him to get used to it. The blonde was sure that the name was Ibiki's vindictive side shining through: Yuurei meant ghost and since "Yuurei" technically didn't exist, he was like a ghost. Naruto would be pissed at the Chuunin if anyone realized this and figured out the ID was fake.

Naruto spared the samurai--a man in his mid twenties with long black hair and shocking purple eyes--a glance. "Not really, Ryoga-san," he replied. His eyes scanned the thick foliage that lined the dirt road as if expecting to find an answer there. "I just feel...weird. Like the air is heavier or something."

Ryoga instantly began laughing. "That's because it is!" he told the young blonde with humor clear in his eyes. "It's heavy with water; we're approaching the sea which means it's getting more humid." The swordsman blinked, as if suddenly remembering something. "Ah, that's right--you said you've never been out of Konoha before, ne? So that must mean that you've never seen the ocean before. Well then, you're in for a treat: We're near the coast right now and, if I remember this road correctly, there's a bend coming up that gives a fantastic view of the ocean."

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise. The ocean! That's right! Wave country was apparently an island, which meant that they had to cross the ocean to get to it. The blue eyed boy exuberantly dashed forward towards the front of the caravan, leaving Ryoga chuckling in his wake.

True to the samurai's word, after only a minute there was a break in the tree line on the right side of the merchant train, which revealed that the road wound its way along the edge of a cliff looking over the ocean. Far off ahead a long beach was visible, along with a large town and a port.

As soon as Naruto caught sight of this view he froze in place, staring with wide eyes at the ocean. The merchant train continued to move on past him, but he barely even noticed as his eyes watched the waves crashing against the coast and the sun reflecting off water several shades darker than his eyes.

"Beautiful, eh?" a voice behind Naruto spoke up. So caught up was the boy that he didn't even jump in surprise at being caught unaware. Instead he just nodded dumbly, never taking his eyes off the water. Behind him Haru chuckled. "Come on, kid," he said while firmly grasping Naruto's shoulder. "We wouldn't want you to get left behind. And don't worry--we'll be traveling along the coast for hours yet, so you'll still get to see the ocean."

Naruto nodded, but it still took him another few seconds to tear his gaze away from the view before him. Even as he followed the barkeeper back to the wagons he continued to throw glances over his shoulder.

The merchant train arrived at the port town that had been visible from the cliff just before nightfall. They'd be spending the night there, Naruto was told, and then would be leaving early in the morning by boat to reach the Wave.

"The rest of the merchants and I are going to be spending the night in a hotel," Haru said to Naruto. "Will you be joining us, or....?"

Naruto glanced back at where the laborers and the samurai guards were mingling around the wagons, which had been stopped on the edge of the town. He contemplated his answer for only a bare second before throwing a grin to Haru.

"Nope!" he replied and then waved back to the man while trotting over to the large group of men. "I'll see you in the morning!" Sleeping outside, under the stars, was much more fun to the blonde. And besides, he wanted to see if he could get Ryoga to tell him any more stories of his time in Bird Country, where he'd partaken in a small war between nobles.

"Hey, Yuurei-kun!" one of the samurai called out with a grin as he noticed Naruto's approach. "How'd ya like some sake?"

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Naruto stared with wide eyes at the water splashing violently against the side of the boat as it passed beneath them. Currently, the boy was standing on the deck of a large ship, leaning as far over the metal railings of the ship as he dared. Said ship was bigger than anything Naruto had ever seen before, big enough to hold several hundred people and half as many animals at one time.

Only once he got bored of staring down at the water did Naruto turn back around to face the deck. There were people crawling all over, making it seem like an anthill that was thriving with activity. Most of these people were laborers--deckhands--but a few were passengers like him. Naruto noticed more than just a few samurai were walking around as well, keeping the peace and guarding the wares onboard.

The blonde haired boy had spent most of that morning exploring the ship. He'd made his way into almost every tucked away corner that he could, until finally someone got sick of his snooping and sent him above deck. Naruto didn't mind of course, since watching the ocean as they sailed by was just as fun.

"Ah, so this is where you've been, Yuurei-kun," Ryoga commented as he strode up to Naruto. His long hair, which was held up in a ponytail as always, whipped violently in the wind. If there was one thing that Naruto didn't like much about being on deck, it was that it was incredibly windy, to the point that he almost needed to squint. "Enjoying the view?"

Naruto nodded enthusiastically. "This is great!" he hollered. "I've never been on a boat before."

Ryoga smiled amusedly. "I'm surprised you're not getting seasick--most people do their first time sailing."

"I never get sick," Naruto replied with a shrug.

"Never?"

Naruto nodded in confirmation. He opened his mouth to say more, only to shut it abruptly and swallow harshly. The reason he didn't get sick was because of the Kyuubi, but there was no way that he was going to tell Ryoga _anything_ about that. He was probably one of the few adults who didn't know what Naruto was and the blonde wanted to keep it that way.

Suddenly Ryoga's eyes slid past Naruto to stare at something in the distance. "Ah, it looks like we'll be arriving soon anyway."

Naruto spun around and immediately saw what Ryoga had: There was land peaking over the horizon. Wave Country. Naruto energetically launched himself at the bars of the ship's railings once more, prepared to stare at the smudge of green on the horizon until it enlarged into an island.

And indeed Naruto _did_ watch, enraptured, as the island came in view. Before long he could see that they were approaching another port town, where several ships were already docked.

Bouncing on his heels, Naruto waited for over an hour as the ship docked and was unloaded. Finally, he followed Haru and the other merchants off the ship and into a bustling town.

Haru led a for-once silent Naruto--he was too busy twisting his head this way and that, looking at anything and everything, to talk--through the streets and into a rather large tavern. The inside of the building kind of reminded Naruto of the Black Wolf Tavern, except it was brighter, much less smoky, and smelt strongly of fish.

Haru strode up to the bartender of the tavern and shook hands strongly with him. "Ah, Fujiko!" he exclaimed. "It's good to see you again! How's business been?"

"Good, for the most part. Likewise, I assume?"

"Of course! Well, dismissing the seasonal ups and downs, of course."

The other man, Fujiko, looked down at Naruto as the boy stared around the tavern with unabashed curiosity. "And who's this?" he asked.

Haru grinned and laid a hand on Naruto's shoulder, bringing the boy's attention back to the two men. "This is Yuurei," Haru introduced. "He came along because he wanted to see the world outside Konoha. Yuurei-kun, this is Echezin Fujiko, an old associate of mine."

"Nice to meet you, old man," Naruto said loudly.

Fujiko laughed aloud at the boy's blatant rudeness. "It's nice to meet you to, Yuurei-kun," he chuckled.

"You can explore a bit while I take care of things here, if you like," Haru told the blonde. "Just stay out of trouble and be sure to make it back to the hotel we're staying at by nightfall."

Naruto nodded distractedly before turning around and heading back towards the tavern's door. Unfortunately, he only just made it there when he suddenly collided with an older man. A drunk, older man.

"Oi, brat!" the man slurred. "Whaddaya think yer doin'?! Watch where yer going, will ya?"

Naruto scowled in annoyance. "You bumped into me!" he snapped. "You should watch where _you're_ going!"

The older man glared down at the brat before him. He opened his mouth to retort, but then abruptly closed it while blinking in surprise. His eyes drooped and then all of the sudden he dropped to the floor like a stone, snoring loudly.

A man sitting at a nearby table snorted in annoyance at the sight. "Damn, Tazuna passed out again," he growled. He paused for a moment to eye Naruto. "Hey kid," he said while pulling out a coin. "If you take Tazuna back to his house, I'll give you this."

Naruto rolled his eyes. What did the man think his was, three? That coin wasn't even enough to buy a single bowl of ramen. Still...Naruto couldn't help but feel slightly guilty at the thought of just leaving the older man where he was--no matter how much he deserved it--so he sighed and accepted the coin.

"Fine. Where does he live?"

It took Naruto almost an hour to get to where Tazuna, the old man, lived. Fortunately the man woke up even before they left the tavern, so he'd only had to half drag the man there. Considering as Tazuna was more than twice his size though, this really was a feat.

Tazuna's house, as it turned out, was right on the water. Literally. Like many of the houses in the area, it was over a dock with the water rushing beneath it. A large windmill--or watermill, technically--was situated directly behind it.

Naruto grunted from Tazuna's weight as he knocked solidly on the door of the two-story home. Fortunately only moments later it was opened by a dark haired woman who looked to be around twenty-five. She took one look at the scene before her and instantly began scolding the half-conscious Tazuna.

"Father!" she exclaimed loudly. "You're drunk again?! I thought I told you to stop wasting all of your money at that bar! You should have learned last time when Nanjiro-san had to carry you home!" Suddenly the woman's attention shifted onto Naruto. "Oh you poor dear! I'm so sorry about my father. Please, please, come in!"

"Um..." Naruto hesitated, glancing at Tazuna.

Tazuna's daughter seemed to immediately understand what he was asking. She scowled again at her father, who was emitting snores once more.

"Just leave him there. He deserves it."

The blonde shrugged and then gracelessly dropped the drunken older man onto the ground before following the woman into the wooden home.

"Have a seat," the woman said while gesturing to the chairs in the living room. "Would you like some tea?"

"Yes please...?"

"Oh, how rude of me!" the woman exclaimed. "I am Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Tsunami-san," Naruto replied politely. "I'm Na-- ...Nanashi Yuurei."

Tsunami nodded pleasantly, apparently completely missing his stumble. Nanashi wasn't actually the surname on his ID, but it had been the first thing that he could think of to cover up his blunder. Perhaps he could ask Ibiki to change it to that when they got back though; he liked the sound of it..."no name ghost".

"Well, thank you so much for bringing my father home, Yuurei-kun," Tsunami continued. "I'll be right back with that tea."

Tsunami had only just stepped into the kitchen when the front door opened. It wasn't Tazuna who stepped inside however--he was still snoring on the ground just outside--but instead a tan man in his late twenties with a cross-like scar on his chin and a five year old boy. Both were laughing loudly and had fishing poles strung over their shoulders. Tsunami paused in the doorway between the living room and the kitchen and positively beamed at the two.

"Kaiza-kun, Inari-chan," she greeted. "You're home just in time. We've got a guest." With that she ducked back into the kitchen, intent on getting tea for everyone.

Kaiza blinked in surprise at the young blonde sitting in his living room, but was quick to smile broadly at the boy. "Why hello! I'm Kaiza," he said. Inari just stared curiously at the boy, quiet until the older man nudged his shoulder. "Be polite, Inari-chan."

Inari smiled shyly at Naruto, revealing one missing front tooth. "Hello," he greeted.

Naruto grinned at both of them. "Nice to meet ya!" he said. "I'm Nanashi Yuurei. I brought Tazuna-san home from the tavern in town."

Kaiza raised an eyebrow. "The tavern? What were you doing there?"

"Ah, I'm visiting Wave from Fire Country with a friend of mine. He's here to escort a shipment for his bar or something--I'm not really sure. He's friends with the owner of the tavern. I just tagged along on the trip."

"Fire Country?" Kaiza asked, looking intrigued. "Where about in Fire Country."

Naruto grinned again. "Konohagakure no Sato," he replied. "I've lived there my whole life; this is my first time getting out."

Naruto ended up spending the entire afternoon with Tazuna's family--and the old man himself, once he woke up. They drifted from topic to topic, but somehow the conversation seemed to come easily.

"Gato?" Naruto questioned at one point. "I've heard of him; Haru mentioned that he was causing some major problems with the economy."

Kaiza nodded solemnly. "He has been. He's been attempting to bully the people of Wave into submitting to his 'rule', if you will. We've been resisting, of course, but..." Kaiza trailed off while briefly glancing at this adopted son. It was clear to Naruto that he didn't want the boy to know just how bad the situation really was.

Naruto leaned back in his seat, a thoughtful expression on his face. How come he'd never heard of Wave's situation in Konoha? Well, Haru had, but Haru knew about _everything_ going on in the elemental countries because of all the travelers passing through his tavern.

The blonde glanced out the window suddenly and noticed that the sun was just beginning to dip down on the horizon. "Sorry, Kaiza-san, Tsunami-san, but I really should get back to the hotel now," he apologized.

Tsunami gasped in surprise when she saw what time it was. Instantly she leapt up.

"Oh, of course!" she exclaimed. "And I really need to get started on dinner as well. Are you sure you wouldn't like to stay to eat, Yuurei-kun?"

"Ah, thank you, thank you, but I promised Haru-san that I'd be back by dark and it'll take me a while to walk to the hotel."

"You'll come back tomorrow though, right?" Inari asked.

Naruto chuckled while scratching the back of his neck. "Ah, sure Inari-chan," he replied. He glanced up at Kaiza and Tsunami. "That is, if it's alright with you...?"

Kaiza and Tsunami smiled widely. "Of course," Tsunami said instantly. "Please drop by tomorrow for lunch. And perhaps bring this friend of yours if you can."

Naruto agreed immediately. He had a feeling that Haru would like this family. The young blonde waved goodbye and then began to make his way back into the village proper.

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Naruto spent most of his week long stay in Wave with Kaiza, Tsunami, Inari, and Tazuna. He got along well with the family very well and he knew that he was going to miss them terribly when he had to return to Konoha.

The day before Naruto was set to leave he walked to Tazuna's house with a somewhat downtrodden mood. He wasn't sure why, but the air around him seemed even heavier than usual, as if signifying what was to come.

The second that Naruto stopped in front of Tazuna's house he knew that something was wrong. When no one answered his knocks his worry grew to out right fear. Tsunami should be home at the very least and usually Tazuna didn't leave to go out drinking until later.

Naruto turned on his heel and began to head back into the port town. His pace grew with every step he took until he was outright running. Something was terribly wrong, he just knew it.

The boy's fear was partially confirmed when he reached the town. No one was there. It appeared as though it had been entirely abandoned in the time it took him to walk to Tazuna's and come back. Naruto began to frantically search all around for any signs of life.

Eventually, Naruto noticed that there were many tracks leading down a path further into the island. Without hesitation he followed this lead and before long he spotted people up ahead. They were all gathered around a tall chain link fence that surrounded a complex. Naruto shouldered his way through the crowd until he could actually see what was going on.

In front of the crowd was a rather large building complex that was surrounded by a fifteen foot tall chain link fence. Numerous armed guards--mercenaries, it looked like--filled the outer courtyard. What held the crowd's attention however, was a small, older man who was standing next to a wooden post. And bound to that post was a chillingly familiar figure.

Kaiza.

"No!" a young voice screamed from off to the side. "Father!"

Eyes wide, Naruto's head whipped around to stare as a struggling, tearful, and enraged Inari was held back by Tazuna. The elder man looked just as torn as the boy and a sobbing Tsunami clutched onto his shirt with a vice-like grip.

Naruto's heart almost broke at the sight of the family, but the short man didn't seem to be affected at all. Instead he just laughed and then began some speech about how he'd kill anyone who stood up to him, starting with Kaiza.

For his part, Naruto almost began to see red as the diminutive man spoke. _How dare he!_ The blonde seethed in his mind. _He had no right!_

When the man raised one hand to signal the men on either side of him, Naruto's rage finally snapped.

In an instant Naruto created half a dozen shadow clones. Under the crowds stunned gazes he and the clones launched themselves over the chain link fence. In midair Naruto flicked his wrist, sending a handful of shuriken slicing through the air. A second later Kaiza's bonds smoothly fell away, freeing him.

Naruto had two of his clones grab Kaiza and get out of the courtyard while the other four each took a specially made seal that he'd been developing for a while. They dashed to each of the four corners of the courtyard, dodging panicking samurai as they went. Simultaneously they slapped the slips of paper on the walls and then poofed out of existence with wide smirks covering their faces.

In the center of the courtyard that same smirk stretched across the face of the original Naruto. It was too bad that clones had no chakra and thus couldn't activate seals, but that didn't matter when one was using a chain seal. Once he activated the master seal in his hand, his chakra would be drawn to the other seals like a magnet, activating them as well. All he had to do was get out of the blast area and he'd be home free.

In the fraction of a second Naruto's eyes met Gato's--or at least that's who he assumed the man was, from Kaiza's stories. The older man looked like he was torn between being terrified and down right furious. His eyes were bulging out of his skull and his face had turned a strange molted color.

For a moment Naruto was sure that Gato was going to jump him himself, but then the blonde activated the seal in his hands, dropped it, and turned and ran like hell.

Behind him, the world exploded.

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The second Naruto landed near the group of villagers, he was enveloped by a weeping Tsunami. "Thank you!" she sobbed. "Thank you!"

Naruto stumbled under the woman's weight and only just managed to catch himself. He awkwardly patted her arm, unsure how to reply. At the same time his eyes met with Kaiza's. He didn't say anything, but he didn't need to. His expression said it all.

"How'd you do you that?" Inari's awed voice asked from beside him. Naruto followed his gaze and saw that his handiwork had turned out just as he'd hoped: The entire inside of the courtyard was covered in smoke and flames--and _only_ the courtyard.

"Basically a supped-up explosion tag," Naruto replied smugly, "But it was linked to a series of containment seals, to stop any collateral damage or casualties." Upon seeing Inari's confused expression, he elaborated, "Containment seals cause a barrier of wind to form around the area. It's only for a few quick seconds but it's enough to contain the blast. The seals then burn themselves up, leaving no trace of their existence behind."

Inari blinked slowly as this explanation sunk in. When he finally tore his gaze away from the flames so that he could face Naruto, his expression was filled with awe.

"That was awesome, Yuurei!"

Naruto and Haru spent the rest of the evening at Tazuna's house. Inari was bouncing all over the place, excited from the day's action. He'd taken to trailing along after Naruto, declaring that he'd become a ninja so that he'd be just like Naruto.

Both Tazuna and Tsunami were pretty quiet, shaken by just how closely to death Kaiza had come, but Kaiza himself didn't seem too bothered. He actually was more determined than ever to help the village, even though Gato was now gone. Haru just sat back and watched from a distance, both proud with what Naruto had done and amused by all the attention the boy was getting. Apparently, the whole town considered him to be a hero.

"The shipping economy is going to be up in the air for awhile, but now that Gato is finally gone it should have a chance to stabilize," Haru commented.

"Without fear, Wave should prosper," Kaiza agreed. "It'll take awhile, but we will strengthen our village again, no matter the cost."

Haru glanced over at Naruto and chuckled when he saw that the boy was passed out on the couch. "Still young despite his experience, I guess."

"He'll be one hell of a shinobi one day," Kaiza murmured. "He's already well on his way. ...Are you his...uncle?"

"Nope. No relation," Haru replied. "Yuurei is an orphan who lives in the area near where my bar is, so he's taken to hanging around. He's never been out of Konohagakure before, so when he heard that I was taking the rip, he jumped on the chance to come. I'm still not quite sure how he managed to get a legal traveling pass, but that's one of the things that I just don't ask."

"You're close to him though."

Haru snorted. "He seems to draw in anyone who gets close to him. That boy's different, in more ways than you could imagine. He needs people on his side and I'll gladly help him out."

"What can a civilian do to help a shinobi?" Kaiza asked teasingly.

Haru's lips stretched to form a wide grin. "Quite a bit, actually. Fighting-wise I may not be much help, but when it comes to information I've got everything. More information passes through bars than most people would guess and when you've been around for as long as I have, you invariably build up some contacts. I'll be able to help Yuurei-kun form his own information network."

Kaiza's grin matched Haru's. "Well then, I'll be glad to help out all that I can."

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Whimpers of pain and rage came from a small man wrapped in bandages. A doctor flitted around him, changing the bandages. As he did so, severe burns could be seen all over the short man's skin.

"Almost done, sir," the doctor said in a placating tone. "You're lucky just to be alive, honestly. We'll have to take you to Mist Village to have some special surgeries done though."

Gato snarled wordlessly. "Just work quickly!" he snapped. "And call ahead to the hospital; I want to be back here as soon as I can."

"But sir! Your wounds will take quite some time to heal, even with the help of a skilled medic-nin!" the doctor protested. Before he could continue, he quelled under Gato's harsh glare and silently turned back to his work.

In the silence, Gato turned his glare onto his burnt hands. "I will _kill_ this 'Nanashi Yuurei' if it's the last thing I ever do."

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A/N: Honestly, it's always hit me as a little strange that the manga/anime--or any fanfiction that I've ever read, for that matter--never commented on how the Wave mission was Naruto's first time seeing the ocean. I mean, he said that that was his first time out of Konoha, right? And Konoha's no where near the coast, so it must have been his first time. And I'm sure that nearly everyone who doesn't live near a coast can remember their first time seeing the ocean--I certainly can.

I should also mention that I know that Team 7 apparently only takes a day to get to Wave from Konoha in the canon, but keep in mind that wagons move much, _much_ slower, hence the three day trip here.

--S.R.

--I want to point out that I _do not_ support underage drinking, which is mentioned in this chapter and will be mentioned again several times in the story. Honestly, I don't like alcohol much at all. I've seen what it can do to people. I have a godfather who died at the age of 45 from sclerosis of the liver. He left behind two children, the oldest of whom was only 13. Regardless of this though, it's a part of Naruto's world and realistically is something that he'd get into, considering his upbringing.


	7. Arc I :: Chapter 6 :: The Game

Title: Failing Twilight  
Author: Shadow Rebirth  
Beta Reader: Rukia23  
Rating: T  
Warnings: Death, blood and gore, coarse language, adult themes, spoilers  
Chapter WC: 7,308  
Total WC: 33,094  
First Written: October 2, 2008  
Last Edited: February 21, 2009  
Posted: December 13, 2008  
Summary: Naruto had learnt from a young age that life could get hectic, but all this chaos with Biju, daimyos, and psychotic missing-nin was going a bit too far. Now just throw in a fourth Great Shinobi War and you've got one pissed off seal master. AU story. No pairings.

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Failing Twilight

Chapter 6_  
The Game_

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Despite the fun he'd had, Naruto felt a wave of relief wash over him as he reentered Konoha. He was literally bouncing in his seat on the back of a merchant wagon while gazing around at the buildings with a new sense of appreciation. Haru just chuckled and ruffled his hair a bit.

After leaving Wave--with a great send off from the townspeople there--the merchant wagon had taken a short detour through Fire Country to stop at a few towns. The samurai that Naruto had hung out with left them in Hajime, a rather large city in the northern part of the country, with promises to keep in contact. They'd also made Naruto swear that he would spar with them when he was older.

Along the way, Haru introduced him to all of the various people that he knew. Some of them were merchants and some were craftsmen, but most were the owners of other inns and taverns. Naruto was shocked by just how many people knew Haru and would happily welcome him into their homes.

Surprisingly, Haru continued to refer to Naruto as "Nanashi Yuurei". The blonde child figured that the name had just stuck. He didn't mind at all and eventually decided to ask Ibiki to change the name on his travel pass to that when he saw the Chuunin again.

Now that he was back in Konoha however, Naruto was eager to get back into the swing of things. He was missing his friends and he had some new ideas for some seals that he wanted to try out.

"So are you going to head straight home?" Haru asked.

Naruto opened his mouth to reply, only to cut himself off with a groan. "I've got to go see Ibiki," he said. "I promised him that I would as soon as I got back..." He was almost tempted to try to skip out on the month of paperwork that he'd promised to do, but Ibiki probably already knew that he was back, being a part of the Intel Department and all.

Indeed, as soon as Naruto reached Ibiki's office that day, he felt a wave of dread wash over him. He hesitantly reached for the door handle, but before he could even touch it the door suddenly swung open.

Standing in the doorway, looming over him, was Ibiki. The Chuunin had an evil smile on his face, one that spoke of impending doom. Naruto gulped and leaned around Ibiki to catch sight of his desk. The dread within him welled up once more when he saw that it was covered in stacks of paper.

The door slammed shut behind him with all of the finality of a jail cell door.

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The Konohagakure Park Reserve was the largest forested area available to civilians inside of the village's walls. It covered about one square mile of land that was crisscrossed by pathways leading to numerous picnic tables, ice cream strands, and playground. There was a lake in the middle of the Reserve that had several small streams leading away from it.

As the bright spring sun beat down on the citizen's of Konoha, Naruto could be seen running along a sidewalk atop a hill in the Reserve. His feet slapped loudly against the concrete, but the sound was mostly drowned out by the splashing of the lake that the sidewalk ran alongside.

It had been one week since Naruto had returned from his trip out of Konoha. One week since Naruto had begun to do Ibiki's paperwork in order to fulfill his promise. One week into his month of hell.

Fortunately, Ibiki was not entirely without mercy towards the young boy. Since he had diligently done his work for a week, the Chuunin was allowing Naruto to have single day off for rest and relaxation. Naruto was determined to spend it well and as such was hurrying towards a special hidden spot that he knew of.

Despite his eagerness, Naruto's footsteps slowed as he caught sight of a black haired boy sitting on a wooden dock that thrust out into the lake. He knew that the boy was in his class, but for the life of him couldn't remember his name.

As if sensing eyes on him, the boy suddenly glanced over his shoulder. The moment their eyes met, Naruto felt a cold chill settle into his bones. Uchiha Sasuke, he remembered dully. He could already see those spinning red eyes forming out of the boy's black depths.

With some effort, Naruto tore his eyes away from his classmate and picked his pace back up again. He was eager to get away from the Uchiha and the memory of those terrible eyes.

When Naruto finally reached the grassy hill surrounded by a copse of trees that he'd been looking for, he was disappointed to find that there was already someone there. He paused for a moment and was about to turn away when he suddenly stopped and squared his shoulders.

No. He'd just spent the past week working his ass off and he wasn't going to let his day off be ruined. He wanted to sit on _his_ hill and so he was going to, whether someone else was there or not.

Naruto plopped down onto the grass and lay with his head resting back on his arms. He stared up into the sunny sky, studiously ignoring the boy next to him, even though he could feel his gaze boring into the side of his head. For a long time neither of them said anything. Then, finally, the other boy looked away.

"You're in my class..." the boy noted quietly.

Surprised, Naruto looked over at him. The boy next to him did indeed look to be around his age. He was rather average in appearance--dark hair, dark eyes--but there was some sort of sharpness in his gaze that instantly attracted Naruto's attention and curiosity.

"...But you hardly ever come to school," the other boy finished.

Naruto shrugged. "I have more important things to do," he said simply. "And one doesn't have to learn about being a shinobi just by going to the Academy."

The dark haired boy "hmmed" thoughtfully. "Nara Shikamaru," he said, sitting up.

With a grin, Naruto shifted into a sitting position as well. "Uzumaki Naruto. Nice to meet ya, Shika."

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Naruto spent the next few hours hanging out with Shikamaru, glad that the chance of fate had brought them together. He even taught the other boy how to play Shogi--a game that Kenmaru had introduced him to some time ago--and he took to it like a fish to water. Naruto had little doubt that Shikamaru would soon far surpass him.

Well, he did always enjoy a challenge.

Eventually, however, Shikamaru had to head home and Naruto once again began to wander around the training grounds, eager to train after having been cooped up in an office for so long.

Unfortunately, the first training ground that Naruto happened upon was already in use. The blonde released an annoyed sigh and turned to leave when a familiar name froze him in his tracks.

"—by Ibiki," a voice was saying.

"Bullshit," someone else, female this time, argued. "You're good, but not that good. _You're_ the one that caused us to fail the Chuunin Exam the first few times, remember? You're too damn full of yourself sometimes, Kotetsu, and making up fucking stories like some five year old to impress us isn't going to help."

Naruto heard the telltale sounds of someone stomping off and assumed that the woman had left. He crept forward and peeked around a tree to get a better look at what was going on. Two men were standing there, Chuunin most likely from their green vests. The first of them had spiky dark hair, a short goatee, and wore a white strip of cloth across his face, over the bridge of his nose. The second shinobi wore his headband in a bandana fashion, much like Ibiki. His brown hair was protruding from beneath it, completely covering his right eye.

For several tense seconds the two men, both of whom looked to be in their early twenties, stared silently into the foliage, presumably after the woman. Then they glanced uneasily at each other.

"...She's getting testier ever time we see her," the Chuunin with the white cloth over his nose remarked. Naruto recognized his voice as the first person he'd heard and immediately labeled him "Kotetsu" in his mind.

The other man shrugged awkwardly. "So...Ibiki?" he prompted.

A brief smile flashed across Kotetsu's face, but it was gone just as quickly as it'd appeared. "Yeah. Like I said, he approached me the other day after I'd turned in my mission papers. He was curious about the Cloud-nin I'd run into and asked me a few questions. He seemed to be unusually interested in my side of the battle though. He'd said he'd contact me again, but I'm not entirely sure what about..." He fell silent for a moment before glancing up at his companion again. "What do you think, Izumo?"

"Hmm..." Izumo hummed thoughtfully. "Who can guess at Morino-san's motives? He may be a Chuunin like us, but it's well known throughout the Village that he was apprenticed to the head of the ANBU Torture and Interrogation Department."

"No one knows what he's doing now," Kotetsu mused. "But it's assumed that he still works in Intelligence."

Interested to learn more about Ibiki's past, Naruto took an unconscious step forward. Unfortunately, in doing so he inadvertently stepped on a twig that cracked loudly beneath his weight. Instantly the two Chuunin disappeared. Naruto quickly drew back while looking around wildly for them. He needn't have bothered however, for only moments later they appeared in front of him, looming over him.

To the young boy's surprise, they did not look angry. If anything, they were amused by the child in front of them.

"What's a kid like you doing out here?" Kotetsu asked warmly. He squatted down so that he was eye level with Naruto.

"You've got to be quiet to be able to sneak up on us like you did," Izumo commented. "You training to be a shinobi?"

Emboldened by their words, Naruto lifted his chin proudly. "Yeah! I'm in the Academy. I'll be a shinobi in a few years."

"Know any jutsu yet?" the shinobi in front of him asked with a grin.

Naruto replied with a wide grin of his own. "Of course," he said. Then he suddenly frowned. "Though my chakra control is all out of whack, which can make things difficult."

Kotetsu and Izumo exchanged glances. "I'm honestly surprised that you even understand the concept of chakra control," Kotetsu admitted. "Most kids your age don't."

"Eh, I read a lot."

"Right..." Kotetsu replied, raising one eyebrow. "As for the control problem...Haven't your teachers taught you the leaf exercise?"

Instantly Naruto scowled. "Yeah," he grumbled, "But I can't get it to fucking _work_, no matter what I do."

"Can't...?" Kotetsu trailed off, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"Yeah. I keep pumping out too much chakra. I've tried limiting it as much as I can, but..."

Once again Izumo and Kotetsu exchanged surprised looks. "Show us," Izumo prompted.

Naruto shrugged in reply, seeing no harm in the question. He picked up a random leaf from off the ground, placed it on his forehead, and began to channel chakra. Instead of sticking to his forehead like it was supposed to, the leaf abruptly shot away from him before slowly floating to the ground.

Kotetsu's eyebrows shot up to his hairline. He let out a low whistle. "You weren't kidding about the chakra thing."

"Maybe..." Izumo began slowly and both Naruto and Kotetsu turned to watch him. "...It'd be best if you practiced a control exercise that utilizes more chakra. That way you'd eventually be able to refine your control to do smaller exercises like the leaf one."

"Working backwards through the exercises...That could work." Kotetsu mused.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Yeah, it _could_, except I don't know any other exercises." He paused to eye the two men hopefully.

Kotetsu easily got the hint and sniggered in amusement. "Yeah, we'll show you. We don't have much else to do right now, ne, Izumo?"

"Sure. And besides, you're an interesting kid."

Torn between scowling at the comments and jumping up and down in joy, Naruto settled on simply nodding. And so the two Chuunin drew Naruto aside and began to teach him how to climb trees without using his hands.

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A small boy with dark features flitted quietly through one of the red-light district's back alleyways. His passage went unnoticed, partially because he seemed to easily slip from shadow to shadow and partially because everyone else in the area was too wrapped up in their own troubles to care.

Eventually the boy crept inside a small, abandoned store. The floor was covered in dust and was littered with leaves and broken glass. The child carefully treaded around the obstacles, making no noise, and then brushed aside a thick velvet curtain hanging in the doorway so that he could move further inside.

In the middle of the small complex was a room filled with dim light and some metal equipment. As the boy stepped inside, he found a skinny, green haired man bandaging up a broad shouldered man's bicep. The boy stood silently beside the door as the two men finished up, money passing hands.

The second man strode out of the room then, but paused to glare at the dark haired boy, who met him stare for stare. The man scoffed and then continued into the darkness.

Meanwhile, the green haired man was washing his ink-stained hands in a deep sink that was set into one wall. While drying his hands when he was finished, he stared at the boy with searching eyes. Then, abruptly, he began to chuckle.

"An interesting guise, Naruto-kun."

"Just practicing," Naruto said, grinning. "My chakra control needs some work. Plus it's always fun to be able to travel unnoticed." With a quick twist of his chakra, the boy released the Henge he'd been wearing.

The man shook his head in amusement, still chuckling. "Damn shinobi," he muttered good-naturedly. "Well, do you have the ink?"

With a sharp nod, Naruto pulled a scroll out of his pocket. He spread it out across the nearest table, bit his thumb just hard enough to draw blood, then with a quick flick of his wrist, dragged his thumb across the surface. The blood activated the sealed scroll and a glass bottle filled with ink popped into existence.

The green haired man picked the jar up and studied it thoughtfully. "What's in it, specifically?" he asked curiously.

"Ink laced with chakra and mixed with blood," Naruto replied. There were faint traces of satisfaction in his voice. "Took me forever to get the mix just right, but this will be perfect for sealing. You'll be able to use it, right Masaki?"

The man, Masaki, shook his head incredulously. "Damn, kid, I don't know how you come up with harebrained ideas like this," he snorted. "Tasuki's probably gonna crack up when he sees what you've done. But, yeah, so long as it's mostly ink, I'll able to use it no problem. Lay out the prints, take a seat, and we'll get started with the tattoos."

Following Masaki's instructions, Naruto took out two identical scrolls and spread them out. These, however, weren't sealed scrolls. Instead they both had three large seal arrays—made up of several smaller seals—drawn on them. They were drawn backwards, actually, but only someone versed in seals would notice. They also were drawn with regular ink instead of chakra laced ink so that even if chakra was channeled into them, they wouldn't activate. They were little more than pictures.

Naruto then hopped up onto the seat in the middle of the room, rolling both his sleeves up as he did so. Masaki who, now had plastic gloves on, came over with a spray bottle full of rubbing alcohol to prep his skin.

A minute later, once both of Naruto's arms were ready, Masaki picked up one of the scrolls that Naruto had laid out. The scrolls were actually mimeograph stencils, which were used to stencil the outline of the tattoo onto the skin. Masaki held the scroll up to Naruto's left arm. He held it there for a few seconds so that the carbon on the scroll would transfer onto the moistened skin . When he peeled it away the stencil had transferred onto Naruto's arm correctly. Masaki repeated with process with the second scroll on the blonde's right arm.

Masaki bustled around the room, opening up the needle and needle tube pouches that would be used. He assembled the machine next to Naruto and turned it on.

Naruto felt the beginnings of nervousness start to well up within him as Masaki approached him with the needle, but he quickly pushed the feeling away. He wasn't doing this just to get a tattoo, but for his shinobi career. The first of the three seals was a sealing seal, which would be used to seal away weapons and equipment, so that he'd always have something on him. The following two were almost identical and were actually linked, even though they didn't look like it. These seals were Naruto's masterpiece.

For years now, Naruto had been working on the problem that he had with chakra control. He knew now _why_ he had such atrocious control: Because of the Kyuubi he had massive amounts of chakra. And tons of chakra was very hard to control. He'd been working on his chakra control for a long time now, using various exercises he'd been taught by his shinobi acquaintances—Kotetsu and Izumo had been particularly helpful in that regard—but it just wasn't working fast enough.

And so, Naruto had begun developing a seal that could help him to control his chakra. He'd gone through dozens and dozens of designs before and idea had suddenly sparked in his mind, inspired by sealing seals, as a matter of fact. The idea was thus: If he had less chakra, then he'd have better control.

Basically, the seal stored his chakra. It would be constantly activated and would draw his chakra from the tenketsu on his arms and place it into storage. As all storage seals had limits, when the limit for the amount of chakra was reached, he had a failsafe in place that would allow the chakra to slowly bleed back into his body, recycling itself.

All of this meant that Naruto's chakra would constantly be at a low level, granting him better control. As his conscious control grew better and better he'd be able to lessen the amount of chakra that the seals drew in, further increasing his control. The bonus to the seals was that at all times he'd have a massive amount of chakra sealed away for emergency use. It would be almost impossible for him to get chakra exhaustion because, if needed, all he had to do was release all the chakra in one of the four seals back into his system.

Naruto took a deep breath as Masaki's needle made first contact with his skin.

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Later that summer found Naruto seated in a casino in the middle of Fire Country, energetically swinging his legs as he sat on a tall barstool. Next to him was a busty blonde woman with a green diamond on her forehead; an acquaintance of Naruto's whom he'd run into many times while traveling around, which he was wont to do during the summer months. The woman was fully focused on the poker game before her, but Naruto, on the other hand, hadn't torn his eyes away from the notebook he was writing away on in hours.

Abruptly, the woman slammed her cards down on the table, scowling fiercely at the men around the table who were laughing. She glared darkly at them before turning so that she was facing Naruto. She was about to snap something, but halted when she caught sight of what the boy was doing and instead began to chuckle.

"Are you always working on seals, Yuurei-kun?" she asked, amusement lacing her voice.

Naruto started, not expecting the sudden interruption. "Sorry, Tsunade-san," he said sheepishly. "I kind of got drawn in..."

Tsunade laughed again and waved the response away flippantly. "You remind me of an old friend of mine," she replied and Naruto took note of the melancholy glint in her eyes. "He was always messing around with seals too...What're you working on?"

As the currently brown haired boy glanced down at the notebook, a frown took over his face. "I'm working on a revised summoning seal," he explained. "The premise is that the seal, when placed on someone, will summon them to me like a summoning contract would. The difference is that the person is really _there_, so it's more like a transportation jutsu, to be honest. I keep running into problems though, such as how to get the summoned person to appear in the place they're supposed to."

Tsunade's brow furrowed. "I'd have thought that the hardest part would be actually summoning someone," she commented.

"Eh not really," the boy shrugged. "That just takes a revised **Shunshin** (_Body Flicker Technique_) seal. It's a bit complicated because of the long distances involved, but so long as that user has enough chakra, it's not much of a problem."

"Oi, Yuurei-kun," a voice suddenly beckoned. Naruto twisted around in his seat and saw a man standing in the small casino's doorway. "We're just ready to go."

"Alright, coming!" he called back before turning back to the blonde he was sitting with. "Sorry, Tsunade-san, but it looks like the merchant train I'm with is leaving."

Tsunade reached out and ruffled the young boy's hair while smiling softly. "No problem, Yuurei-kun. I'll see you around, ne?"

Naruto gather up his notebook and hopped off the stool. "Sure thing! See you later...Old Hag!" Laughing, he dodged the bar stool that was suddenly chucked in his direction and took off at run.

"Don't call me that, you brat!"

The child swiftly leapt out of the casino and jogged over to where a merchant wagon was standing as the last few inventory checks were done. Naruto preferred to travel alone, now that he was able to protect himself and walk for hours without tiring, but occasionally he joined up with a merchant that he knew. This time in particular he'd agreed to come along because Ryoga, the samurai he'd met on his first trip out of Konoha, had been among those hired to protect the merchant.

Naruto traveled along with the merchant wagon for several days. It was in a town on the west side of Fire Country that he finally decided to split with them and, after waving goodbye to Ryoga and thanking the merchant, headed down a different road at a much quicker pace of travel.

The boy sighed as he stared down the empty road. His foot kicked a loose rock and his eyes followed it as it rolled for a few seconds before slowing to a stop. This was another reason why he sometime traveled with merchants; traveling alone could be down right _boring_. He supposed he could run to get to the next town faster, if he really wanted to, but at the moment he just didn't feel like it.

A scant few minutes later, Naruto's sharp eyes caught sight of a figure on the road up ahead. He slowed slightly as he approached, cautious, but after a few minutes he was able to tell that it was a woman with short dark blonde hair. She was walking in the same direction as him, but at a slower pace.

Naruto's steps faltered momentarily as he considered whether to take a detour around the woman or pass right by her. She didn't _look_ dangerous though, he thought. She was dressed in simple, travel-worn clothes and she walked with the poise of a civilian, not the grace of a shinobi.

His decision made, Naruto's pace picked up again. As he drew closer the woman finally heard his footsteps and her head twisted back to look. Naruto noticed that she looked absolutely exhausted; her eyes were even bloodshot from lack of sleep. Upon seeing the child behind her, her shoulders slumped almost imperceptibly with relief, as though she'd been expecting someone else.

Naruto kept a pleasant smile on his face as he came up to the woman. It was only because of this, because he was partially turned in her direction, that he caught sight of movement in the dark vegetation lining the road. His eyes widened and he reflexively grasped the woman's elbow and jerked her down, just as a dozen shuriken sliced through the air overhead.

Out of the trees burst three shinobi, all bearing the green vests of Jounin and hitai-ate with the symbol of the Hidden Sand Village. They jumped at the woman faster than Naruto could react, but she was already moving to meet them. Kunai slid into her hands from their hiding places and abruptly her tired eyes were sharp and watchful.

She was a kunoichi and Naruto hadn't even realized it.

Another movement separate from the engagement ahead flickered in Naruto's peripheral vision. The blonde's head snapped around to find to his surprise that there was another boy about his age watching the fight from the side of the road. He had crimson hair, emerald eyes, and wore an impassive impression. What really caught Naruto's attention though was the kanji for "love" on his forehead and the massive gourd made of sand that was strapped to his back.

The other boy's eyes slid over to meet Naruto's gaze and then dismissed him as unimportant moments later. The blonde's hackles raised and he found himself literally snarling in anger. He should have left at that moment, while he still had a chance. He should have walked away, shouldn't have gotten involved.

But he couldn't. Not when he'd just been so blatantly insulted by someone his own age. It wasn't the first time and certainly wouldn't be the last time that his pride would get him in trouble.

Naruto lunged at the redhead, wanting nothing more than to sock him in the face, but the next thing he knew he'd slammed into a solid brick wall and was sent flying back into a tree. He gasped sharply as he made contact and the wood cracked beneath the force. He fell to his hands and knees moments later and had to cough a few time to spit out the blood pooling in his mouth from where he'd accidentally bitten his tongue.

Shocked and confused, Naruto looked back up at the other boy. He was surrounded by sand that was lifting up and shifting around him as though it was a living thing. The boy himself hadn't even glanced at him throughout the entire conflict.

Naruto hesitated, glancing between the boy and the woman who was still fighting, unsure as to what to do. Then the redheaded boy began to walk forward and all thoughts of fleeing flew from his mind. Without even stopping to consider his actions, he leapt forward.

The sand rose up once more, but this time Naruto was ready for it. He danced away while simultaneously forming the seal for **Kage Bunshin** (_Shadow Doppelganger_) with his hands. Around him a dozen doppelgangers popped into existence, all ready to fight.

As the Kage Bunshin began to attack the other boy, he was forced to turn his attention onto them. A handful were killed almost instantly as the living sand wrapped around them and squeezed the life from them, but the rest of them survived much longer, learning how the sand-boy fought and coordinating their attacks through the basic hand signals that Ibiki had taught the blonde.

Meanwhile, the real Naruto hung behind and began setting up some seals. The pockets of his pants had containment seals sewn into them with thread died with chakra-laced ink, allowing them to work just as seals drawn on paper would; Naruto had long since learned that with just a bit of ingenuity, almost anything could be a seal. These seals in particular held several sets of explosion and jutsu seals that would be perfect for this fight.

Once he had everything he needed, he activated one of his newest tattoos, one that he'd actually only just gotten before leaving on this latest trip. The two new ones were a **Henge** (_Transformation Technique_) seal and a **Kawarimi** (_Replacement Technique_) seal, each placed over a tenketsu on his chest. All he had to do was channel some chakra into that tenketsu and the jutsu would activate, eliminating all need for handseals. The blue-eyed boy was planning on getting a seal for Kage Bunshin as well the next chance he got.

As soon as the seal had been activated, Naruto was switched with one of the Kage Bunshin nearest to the sand-boy. The sand rose up to meet him, of course, but Naruto paid it no mind as he slapped one of the seals onto the living sand, then switched with another Bunshin and repeated the action again and again.

After placing down a dozen in the span of only a few seconds, Naruto and his clones moved back as one, just in time to get out of the blast radius as all the exploding tags went off. The blonde winced and shielded his face as bits of sand fell down on him, but soon smirked at the piercing scream emitting from the center of the blast zone.

Then the expression fell.

As the dust cleared, Naruto was able to see that the sand-boy was alive. Not unscathed, fortunately, but still mostly unharmed. Most of the living sand directly around the redhead had been melted into rough glass by the blast, but it would seem that the tags themselves hadn't hurt him. Instead it was the sand that was caked onto his skin that had been melted that was causing the most harm.

Naruto winced again as he watched the sand-boy scream and claw desperately to get the melted sand off, all the while sobbing something about "mother". Damn, the blonde thought, _that_ had to burn.

A swift glance over to the almost-forgotten woman revealed that she'd somehow managed to kill two of the Suna Jounin and was battling against the third. Judging her safe for now, Naruto sighed and turned his attention back onto the redheaded kid. He had his remaining four Kage Bunshin approach the boy, just to be safe, but they were easily able to dodge out of the way of his living sand; there was only a small amount of it left and it was moving relatively slow.

One of the Kage Bunshin chopped the nerve between the sand-boy's neck and shoulder to knocking him out. The redhead dropped to the ground instantly, like a puppet whose strings had been cut. And unfortunately, that was where everything went horrible wrong.

As soon as the sand-boy had fallen, the sand began to whip around. Some of it even rose out of the ground itself, as if called. All three of Naruto's Kage Bunshin were immediately dispelled and the blonde himself stumbled back, shocked. Before his very eyes a giant, three story tall tanuki made of the living sand formed, roaring with bloodlust.

"Blood! Blood!" it was hissing, its face contorted into an insane grin. Atop the tanuki was the redheaded boy, still unconscious.

Naruto was in too deep of a state of shock to do anything more than stare, horrified, as the sand-monster lifted its massive tail and slammed it down onto his position. He was sure he was going to be killed, but then a strong arm wrapped itself around his torso and suddenly he was flying through the tree at speeds he'd never seen before. Everything around him seemed to blur and in the distance he could hear a fierce, thundering roar of rage—

When he was finally set down, Naruto was sure that they were miles and miles from the sand-boy and whatever that monster had been. He sucked in a few shuddering breaths, attempting to regain his composure.

His savior, it turned out, was the kunoichi that _he'd_ been trying to save. She looked even more exhausted than she had when he'd first seen her and there was a deep, bleeding gash on her arm, but other than that she seemed mostly fine. She also was a little older than he'd first thought; she looked to be in her mid thirties, at least.

"So it seems Intel was right," she muttered to herself. "The Sand Village does have a jinchuuriki..."

Naruto's eyes cut sharply over to the woman. "Jinchuuriki?" he repeated incredulously.

The woman eyed him warily for a moment before nodding.

He couldn't believe it. That boy had been a jinchuuriki like him? But then that meant that that tanuki...The blonde paled as the implications of what had just happened fully hit him. He'd been about to fight a _Biju_. He shuddered to think of what would have happened had this woman not been there to help him.

"Thank you," he whispered sincerely.

The kunoichi smiled wryly, her pale green eyes shining with amusement. "It's I who should be thanking you, I suppose," she replied. She sank down to the ground, resting her back against a tree. "There's a slow-acting poison in my system right now that dulls my senses. If you hadn't pulled me down when you did, I'd be dead for sure. So really, it's you who saved my life and I was just returning the favor."

Naruto's eyes widened in alarm. "_Poison_?!"

The woman let out a bark of laughter. "Yeah, poison. I've already ingested a shoddy homemade antidote, but it'll only hold out until I get back home," she said with a grin. "Thanks for your concern though, kid. It's rare to find people so young who already care. Plus you're already a shinobi."

"Ah, not yet," Naruto answered, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm still in the Academy right now."

The green eyed kunoichi frowned. "Really? You've already got the reflexes of a low-level Chuunin, maybe higher."

"Thanks," Naruto beamed. "I train a lot. Plus I use chakra to augment my muscles sometimes." He had Kotetsu and his chakra controlling seals to thank for _that_; Kotetsu because he was the one who taught him how to do it and the seals because they gave him good enough chakra control to use the skill. "I have to be strong, you see."

The woman laughed again, but it wasn't mocking in the slightest. "Sure, kid," she said humorously. "We've all got to be strong, I suppose. I'm Fuumiko, by the way."

Naruto responded with a smile of his own. "Nanashi Yuurei," he replied easily. He was more than used to the false name by now. Plus, he could hardly give out his own since he was still wearing the Henge of a brown haired, golden eyed boy; the visage that matched his IDs.

Fuumiko didn't so much as bat an eyebrow at his strange name. "Well, it's been a pleasure to meet you, Yuurei-san," she said. "But I really need to get back to my Village as soon as possible."

"On your own? You've probably got chakra exhaustion. What if you collapse?"

"Ah, cute," Fuumiko chuckled while reaching out to ruffle Naruto's hair. The boy huffed, silently wondering why _all_ adults seemed to like to do that. "But sorry, Yuurei-san, you'll just have to trust that I'll be fine."

"But why can't I come with you," Naruto protested. "Just to make sure you'll be alright."

"I can't," Fuumiko said with a shake of her head. "What if you're a spy, eh? I can't just let you into my Village, can I? Sorry, Yuurei, but regulations have to be followed, even if you did save my life."

Naruto pouted, but didn't protest. He understood perfectly well why Fuumiko couldn't take him to her Village, whichever village that was. So instead he smiled, wished the kunoichi luck, and bid her goodbye. He decided that perhaps it was time to return to Konoha again; he'd had enough fated meetings to last him for months. Not that _that_ had been a fateful meeting...Right?

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Naruto spent the first half of his tenth birthday inside of a cell in Konoha's Police Force Headquarters.

Or, to be more specific, he spent it inside of an interrogation cell, getting information out of a detainee while wearing a Henge. Ibiki stood behind him the whole time, watching, but never interrupting. Naruto had done this dozens of times already, but the older shinobi was required to be there as his "instructor".

Naruto snorted at the very thought; Ibiki might give him scrolls from time to time, but he'd never actually _taught_ him anything.

Once he was done, the blonde trailed after Ibiki as they left the building. Ibiki ignored him, as always, before abruptly stopping in the middle of a rather vacant street and turning to the blonde.

"Happy birthday, brat," Ibiki grunted.

The words were forced out and Naruto had little doubt that the man would really rather not say them. The blonde couldn't stop the wide grin from stretching over his face, however, at the acknowledgment.

Ibiki sighed, clearly sensing Naruto's joy. "I'm supposed to give you this," he continued, passing an envelope over to the child. "It's _not_ a birthday present," he added with a glare. "It's from the higher ups."

Confused, Naruto flicked the envelope open and pulled out the papers inside. His eyes swiftly scanned over what was written there, before widening suddenly. He glanced up at Ibiki for confirmation and found that he was smirking in amusement at Naruto's reaction.

"This— These papers give me A-level security clearance!" Ibiki just nodded. "But, but— Why?! I mean, I'm not even a shinobi yet!"

"I just got promoted to Jounin and the Head of Intelligence," Ibiki replied shortly. "Since you're doing my paperwork, you need higher clearance as well. Of course, I'll still be filtering some things out—because, as you pointed out, you aren't even a fucking _Genin_ yet—but getting you clearance is a hell of a lot easier than doing my own paperwork."

Naruto rolled his eyes and snorted in amusement. "It figures that this is just a result of you being a lazy ass." As Ibiki swung at him, he dodged away with a laugh and began to trot off down the street, papers clutched in one hand. "See ya tomorrow Ibiki-sempai!"

After returning home, Naruto was bodily dragged out by Tasuki, who was apparently determined to _force_ him to have fun on his birthday. The scarred older man then proceeded to drag the boy to a club for the rest of the night, where Naruto had to admit that he did have the time of his life.

"Told ya," Tasuki said with grin when he mentioned it. "Ya gotta get out more, Naruto-kun; ya always seem ta be doin' some form of tranin' or another."

Naruto rolled his eyes in response and then let his gaze roam over the packed room, picking out those whom he knew. He stood silence with Tasuki for several minutes before finally turning to the older man with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Say, Tasuki," he began, "Shouldn't there be a festival on the day the Kyuubi no Kitsune was defeated or something?"

The older man snorted. "There are only ever festivals for seasonal things or holidays. So we got Memorial Day ta celebrate, but tha's all. And besides," he said, "Ya forget, da Kyuubi never actually reached Konoha itself. Only a 'andful of villagers were killed; da rest were shinobi. While da defeat of da Kyuubi was a great victory, there wasn't a massive slaughter ta gain dat victory or anythin'."

He paused to study Naruto with unusual intensity. "Ya expect people ta 'ate ya 'cause of da Kyuubi," he said suddenly, "Because so many people 'ave shown ya such coldness. They've ignored you, pushed ya away. Da truth is dat most people understan' dat ya are jus' a child with a great burden, but dis doesn't stop 'em from fearing what ya are and fearing what could happen. Dis makes 'em wary and in their fear they lash out. But...I don' think many people actually _'ate_ you, beyond a few shallow shinobi or the descendants of those who did die."

Naruto didn't reply, but Tasuki knew that the boy understood his message anyway. The blonde silently contemplated the scarred man's words for a while before abruptly nodding and walking into the crowd.

Naruto pushed his thoughts away in order to try to mingle with other people that he knew relatively well. He was only halfway across the large room filled with meshing bodies and pounding music however, when a pair of arms suddenly encircled his neck and he felt something peculiarly soft pressing into his back. Moments later a woman's face, heavily layered with geisha make-up, appeared over his shoulder

"K-Kimiko-san!" he stuttered in surprise.

The woman chuckled in his ear, but released him so that he could turn around to face. "Naruto-kun," she said, mock-scolding him. "How many times have I told you to call me Kimi-chan, hmm?"

"Sorry, Kimi-chan," Naruto replied sheepishly. Kimiko was one of the many prostitutes that frequented the area, but she and her co-workers had always been exceedingly nice to him, so the blonde paid their profession no mind. They, just like everyone else in the red-light district, were just struggling to survive.

Abruptly, Naruto's attention was pulled from his thoughts as a soft pair of lips pressed into his own. He froze in shock, not daring to move as Kimiko pulled away from him, a sultry smirk on her face.

"Happy Birthday, Naruto-kun," she purred. Then she turned and slipped back into the crowd, her hips swaying as his walked, and leaving Naruto to gape after her.

The blonde was still standing there, unmoving, when Tasuki came up to him a few minutes later. "Ya okay there, Naruto?" he asked curiously.

Naruto's mouth snapped close. He blushed scarlet and carefully avoided meeting Tasuki's eyes. His feet shuffled slightly against the carpet.

"I'm fine..."

Tasuki beamed, completely oblivious. "Great," he said. Naruto glanced up and noticed that he was drunk. Again. Tasuki latched onto the boy's arm suddenly and began to drag him towards the entrance of the club. It was a complete 180 from the serious attitude he'd had not ten minutes ago. "Come on then; we're gonna get yer birthday present!"

"W-what?" Naruto spluttered as he struggled to keep his footing. "Whaddaya mean? I thought _this_ was my present."

"Nope!" Tasuki half-sung. "I'm takin' ya to get yer ears pierced!"

"Wait, what?!"

"Yep! Ya gotta get yer ears pierced to complete yer look."

"My look?" the blonde boy protested. "Tasuki, what the hell are you talking about?!"

The man waved off the boy's protested with his free hand. "Ya know, yer tattoos and all. Ya can't have tattoos without piercings," he said. Tasuki was one of the few people to know about them since he almost always had his arms covered with bandages.

"They're _seals_, not just tattoos—" the boy started to explain, but Tasuki wasn't listening. With a sigh, Naruto gave in and allowed himself to be pulled along to Kami only knew where.

The next morning Ibiki almost died laughing when Naruto walked in with a silver stud in each ear.

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A/N: Couple of important things: First, Naruto doesn't know Tsunade very well; he doesn't even know that she is one of the Sanin, just that she's a retired shinobi. She's only an acquaintance of his who he runs into occasionally at casinos and bars and will stay that way for quite a while. Next, about the tattoos. Seals can be drawn on almost any medium because it's the ink that matters the most. Thus, seals can be drawn on skin, clothing, wood, stone, etc.

Also, about the Naruto-Gaara fight: Keep in mind that Naruto's probably a little bit stronger than in canon and that Gaara is a little bit weaker, because he's younger. This evens them out a lot more. The melted sand thing has been used before in fanfiction, but I haven't seen anyone even think about what would happen to his sand-armor. It's got a major weakness in that it _is_ sand. The glass-sand would retain the heat from an explosion like the one Naruto caused and would doubtlessly melt the skin off of and kill anyone who wasn't a Jinchuuriki. Nasty stuff. But good for Naruto, as it's probably the only way he'd ever defeat Gaara at this age. Of course, he's still no match for Shukaku at this point; he just happened to have the right tools to exploit Gaara's weakness.

The whole thing with the Kyuubi that's mentioned in the end of this chapter is something that's bothered me about fanfiction for a while, and is the main reason why the villagers don't hate Naruto so much in this story. From what we've seen of the manga and anime, the Kyuubi never actually reaches Konoha, so while a few outlying villages and farms might have been destroyed, none of the actual villagers of Konoha were. This is supported by canon because it's only ninja who were mentioned to have been killed—such as Iruka's parents. We never actually _see_ the villagers hating Naruto, just ignoring him; the only evidence of it at all is what Mizuki mentions, and he's not exactly a reliable source of info, and the flashbacks during the Valley of the End. Thus I'm more inclined to think that the villagers shunned him, but weren't outright hostile.

_Anyway_, this chapter is the last one of Naruto's childhood, which is half the reason why it's so long. The other half is to make up for the short chapter posted at the end of October. The next chapter will start just before Naruto graduates from the Academy.

More info on this story can be found at www(DOT)groups(DOT)yahoo(DOT)com/group/ShadowRebirthFanfiction.

--S.R.

_Hitai-ate_ means forehead protector.  
A _kunoichi_ is a female ninja.


	8. Arc II :: Chapter 7 :: The Graduation

Title: Failing Twilight  
Author: Shadow Rebirth  
Beta Reader: Rukia23  
Rating: M  
Warnings: Death, blood and gore, coarse language, adult themes, spoilers  
Chapter WC: 5,488  
Total WC: 38,591  
First Written: December 9, 2008  
Last Edited: December 13, 2008  
Posted: December 13, 2008  
Summary: Naruto had learnt from a young age that life could get hectic, but all this chaos with Biju, daimyos, and psychotic missing-nin was going a bit too far. Now just throw in a fourth Great Shinobi War and you've got one pissed off seal master. AU story. No pairings.

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Failing Twilight

Chapter 7  
_The Graduation_

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Had anyone walked in on Naruto at that moment, they probably would have laughed. After all, a twelve year old blonde haired boy covered in soot, wearing a pair of goggles, and bent over a massive selection of scrolls was undoubtedly a rather odd sight.

It was, of course, at that moment that a knock coming from further in the complex echoed through the open door.

Naruto glanced up as one of the dozens of Kage Bunshin that he had stationed throughout "his" complex appeared in the swirl of leaves signature to the **Shunshin** (_Body Flicker Technique_). The doppelganger looked just like him: Namely, it was dressed in a pair of dark green cargo pants—with numerous pockets, of course—, a black, high-collared, sleeveless shirt, and a pair of black shinobi boots. The boots were made with special soft soles that made no noise when he walked and offered more protection than the standard shinobi sandals.

Around the clone's neck was what Naruto considered to be his most prized possession: A thick leather band. It wasn't for decoration though; far from it. There were metal plates inside the leather covering, to protect his neck, but more importantly there were nine seals carved and dyed into the leather. They were seals that had saved his life more than once in battle.

The clone also had its upper arms and calves wrapped in bandages, hiding the tattoo-seals there, and a pair of sturdy goggles hung around its neck. Naruto always had those goggles with him; they were useful both with seal experimentation and when using explosions in battle. The most vibrant change in Naruto, however, was that the top half of his spiky hair was dyed black while the bottom half was blonde. He'd done it out of sheer boredom and even now was considering dying his hair a different color again. That, in some ways, it made him look like less of shinobi was only a stealth bonus when it came to blending in. A single, short braid of blonde hair hung just in front of his left ear.

"Hey Boss!" the clone greeted. "Shika's here."

"Let 'im in then," Naruto replied with an absent wave of his hand.

As the clone disappeared again, Naruto sighed and removed the goggles from his face. There was a peculiar space clear of soot around his eyes now, but he didn't even notice. Instead, he just went on muttering under his breath, looking through the scrolls.

"Oi, Naruto, take a break, would you?" came Shikamaru's familiarly bored voice.

"Can't. I'm so close to a breakthrough—"

"Which isn't going to come if you fry your brain. Sit down."

Naruto rolled his eyes, but grudgingly took the other boy's advice. Shikamaru was without a doubt one of Naruto's closest friends and one of only a handful of people who knew everything about the blonde, including about the Kyuubi no Kitsune. _That_ Shikamaru had figured out on his own, which wasn't too surprising since he was a certified genius.

"I'm sittin', I'm sittin'," Naruto grumbled as he plopped gracelessly into one of his work room's chairs. "Whaddaya want, Shika?"

"Iruka-sensei told us today that the graduation exam is in a week and a half," Shikamaru said. He followed Naruto's example and took a seat across from the blonde. "Don't forget to actually show up that day, ne?"

"Maybe," Naruto said with a cheeky grin. "Or maybe I'll just skip."

Shikamaru snorted. "Yeah. Right. And wait another damn year to graduate. Have fun with that."

Naruto couldn't help but laugh at Shikamaru's sarcasm. It was one of the things the dark haired boy was well known for, along with his incredible brain and his legendary laziness.

"Fine," the blonde grinned. "I'll show up, but only because ya asked so _nicely_."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes again and muttered something under his breath about "troublesome blondes". Naruto just laughed again.

"Why don't you come to school today? Shikamaru suddenly asked. "You only ever come for tests."

Naruto shrugged. "Eh, I could, I suppose."

He should have known not to give Shikamaru even a little room on the matter. He repeated this over and over as he was forcefully dragged from his work and over to the Academy. He sighed and allowed his friend to lead the way. He hadn't been there in a while after all, so he supposed that it was time for a visit.

Almost as soon as they stepped into the Academy Naruto began to feel awkward. He really didn't like coming here; they were all just children. Children who'd never experienced death, who'd never had blood on their hands.

Some might say that Naruto was just a child too, but he'd long since stopped considering himself one. It was even hard for him sometimes to see eye to eye with some of the friends he had who were around his age, such as Shikamaru and Tenten. Though, thankfully, Shikamaru was unusually mature for his age as well.

The classroom was still mostly empty when Naruto and Shikamaru arrived. Their sensei, Iruka, wasn't even there yet. There were however a handful of students.

"Well look at who decided to show up today," a dry voice greeted.

Naruto glanced over at Hyuuga Hinata and grinned, to which she responded in kind. Naruto could vaguely remember that she'd been incredibly shy when he'd first met her, but the young heiress had changed a lot since then and had grown into a confident girl. Even though he didn't know her very well, Naruto liked her best out of the Hyuuga because she was kind despite her sometimes brusque attitude. The blonde had heard rumors that she had some issues with her family at home, but he'd never pried.

The blonde boy's eyes swept the room for a moment before landing on the only other person there at that moment who he knew by name: Uchiha Sasuke. A shiver ran down his spine as his gaze met Sasuke's and his mind momentarily overlaid those dark orbs with the crimson red that belonged to Uchiha Madara. He quickly tore his gaze away.

Honestly, Naruto didn't know Sasuke at all. He'd spoken to him only on a few rare occasions and even then, those exchanges had always been short. Naruto was tempted to be cold towards the other boy, but he just couldn't. Disliking the boy because he was an Uchiha would be far too much like how the Villagers were so cold to him because of the Kyuubi.

As the rest of the students slowly filtered in, Naruto received only a few glances from the other kids. They were all mostly neutral towards him since he was known as such a slacker.

A sudden screech was all the warning the class had before a blonde haired girl and a pink haired girl suddenly threw themselves at the classroom doors, fighting to get through the narrow space at the same time. Naruto stared on in wide eyed shock, having never witnessed this before.

"Sasuke-kun!" the blonde girl cried as she threw herself into the room. The second girl was directly after each other as they fought to get into one of the seats next to the silent Uchiha.

Naruto was sure that one of his eyes was twitching. They were fighting...Over Sasuke? He'd heard that he had a fan club, but this was just ridiculous. He threw a pitying glance over at the Uchiha. Although...He had to admit that the girls' intensity could be very useful in the shinobi world, if only they channeled it in the right way. But that wasn't likely to happen for a while yet.

The sharp snap that accompanied the closing of the classroom door caused everyone to jump and look over to where Iruka was standing, waiting. "Thank you," he said dryly. His eyes landed on Naruto for a moment. "And thank you all for coming today. It's a rare pleasure to see _some_ of you."

And what else could Naruto do but smirk in reply.

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By lunch, Naruto was bored. Terribly bored. They'd spent the first half of the day entirely on theory—theory that he already _knew_—and were apparently going to spend the second half reviewing the Henge. Needless to say, Naruto didn't feel like his presence was necessary. Shikamaru just rolled his eyes and waved him away, saying he'd see him in a week at the latest.

And so Naruto decided to go do something that was actually productive. Namely training. It was fortunate that there were quite a few training grounds that were open to the public for otherwise he'd have to sneak into one of the shinobi-only, fenced off ones. And while those were always fun because they were more dangerous, they weren't useful for what he was planning on doing to day.

Naruto was only a few miles from the Academy however, when he suddenly flinched, as if from pain. The Kage Bunshin that'd been in Ibiki's office had just dispelled, dumping all of the info from that morning's paperwork into his mind without warning. It didn't hurt so much as it gave him a headache for a few seconds before dispersing.

The blonde glared at the ground, muttering about "stupid Jounin knocking over filing cabinets without caring that there was a clone in the room". He would never leave his position, despite Ibiki's annoying temperament though; it was too interesting, and besides he got _paid_ to be Ibiki's "assistant". For an orphan, money was always useful and he got enough from Ibiki, his job with Kenmaru the blacksmith, and playing poker to last him for a while.

The blonde boy sighed then and created another clone to take the first's place with only a thought and a small burst of chakra to the Kage Bunshin tattoo-seal on his left shoulder blade. He had several dozen of these tattoo-seals now, though they were all hidden by either his clothing or the bandages on his limbs. He only got tattoos of his most used jutsu though, along with a few other useful, precautionary ones.

"Hey, Naruto-kun, are you alright?"

Naruto instantly straightened and glanced up at his friend, showing none of the surprise he was feeling at her appearance. "Ah, yeah, Tenten. Thanks," he replied.

The older brown haired girl smiled. "Good," she said shortly. "Can't have you getting sick before our scheduled spar on Saturday, ne?"

"Feh," Naruto snorted, rolling his eyes. "I don't get _sick_," he said dismissively. "Ever. Anyway, shouldn't you be training with your Genin team right now?"

His old friend laughed. "And shouldn't you be in the Academy?" Tenten teased. "My team's in the middle of a D-rank mission right now; picking up some supplies." She made a face, clearly stating exactly what she thought of D-ranks. "Oh, by the way, Lee broke one of his weights the other day. Would you mind...?"

Naruto sighed, but nodded. At Tenten's request he'd placed some seals on Lee's—strange boy that one, but a terrific fighter— weights, so that they'd weigh him down without digging into his ankles like they had previously done. Those same seals had inspired a slew of other mass and density related ones that Naruto now used in his fighting.

He'd tried wearing weights like those that Lee used for a time, but it just wasn't his style. Naruto needed to be ready for anything at a moment's notice, and weights, while great for Taijutsu masters, counteracted that. In the end, he preferred to use his massive amounts of chakra to augment his strength and speed instead.

"Sure," Naruto said to the Weapon's Mistress. "Just tell Lee to drop the new weights off at my apartment—" He trusted them, but not enough to tell them where he actually lived. Besides, he highly doubted that even Lee would want to go into the red-light district. "—and I'll get to work on them."

Tenten positively beamed. "Thanks, Naruto-kun," she replied sincerely. "I'd better get back to my mission now though."

"Anytime."

"Ah—" Tenten stopped, mid-turn. "Don't forget that you still haven't met my sensei or my teammate, Neji, Naruto."

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto chuckled as he waved over his shoulder. "I'll get around to it some time."

Tenten smiled and returned the wave.

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When Naruto finally reached Konoha's training grounds he immediately came upon a familiar sight: Kotetsu lying in the grass on his back. Grinning widely, the blonde walked over to stand above the Chuunin.

"Hey, Kotetsu," he greeted jovially—perhaps a little _too_ jovially, if the man's glare was any indication. "Ibiki-sempai run you into the ground again?"

Kotetsu released a groan. "Gurhg," was his oh-so intelligent reply. With a second, deeper groan, he pushed himself up so that he was leaning on his elbows. "Of course," he said hoarsely. "When doesn't that sadist? And then _after_ that, Izumo, the bastard, thought it'd be a good idea to _jump_ me to 'test my reflexes'. Little fucker..."

Naruto had a hard time containing his chuckles. Kotetsu had been recruited by Ibiki three years ago—right around the time Naruto had met Kotetsu and Izumo, actually—to join the Intel Department. This of course meant that he received a lot of extra training in stealth and that the Chuunin was often worn out. It was a constant source of amusement for Naruto, though he could certainly sympathize, knowing Ibiki's temperament all too well himself.

After a few minutes of trying to draw Kotetsu into a conversation and receiving only tired grunts and a few half-hearted glares for his efforts, Naruto finally decided to let the Chuunin rest. Instead, he walked over to a patch of grass nearby, took off his boots, and started on the chakra control exercise he'd been working on recently.

This technique was yet another one that Kotetsu and Izumo had taught him. It was called the silent-step exercise and for a very good reason: It was what allowed shinobi to walk with no sound whatsoever. All academy students were trained to do this without chakra, but using the technique allowed higher level shinobi to make sure that they didn't make any noise. It was very useful both during missions and in increasing chakra control.

Naruto raised one of his feet so that it was hovering just a few inches above the grass. He channeled chakra into his feet, just like he would for the tree walking or water walking exercises, except with a much smaller amount, for unlike the others this exercise required a far finer control. He slowly dropped his foot so that it was brushing the tips of the grass blades. Then he increased the pressure bit by bit, making sure to spread the chakra out evenly so that the tips of all the grass blades were being repelled by chakra evenly.

After several seconds of carefully making sure that he had the right amount of chakra, Naruto was able to put all of his weight onto his one foot. He repeated the process with his other foot a bit quicker and then beamed when he'd finished: He was literally standing on top of the grass without it bending.

More experienced shinobi like Kotetsu could do this without a second thought though. And that was the level that Naruto needed to get to. He needed to be able to use the silent step exercise with his shoes on, without taking a full minute to complete it, and—

The blonde yelped as he lost control and his feet collided sharply with the ground, jarring his knees. He winced slightly.

—And without losing concentration. Definitely that. The technique could be very useful with running across grass or floorboards or mud—or any type of terrain, really, since it could be used to leave no tracks—but only if one knew how to use it properly. The control was definitely an issue; Naruto knew that if he released all of the chakra-holding seals on his body and was at full chakra capacity, there'd be no way he could use the exercise.

Thank Kami for seals.

"You're getting better," Kotetsu admitted grudgingly from where he was lying.

"Of course," Naruto replied boisterously. "I train all the time; hell, even right now I've got a bunch of Kage Bunshin at home, training."

Grinning, Kotetsu rolled his eyes. "Yeah," he shot back, "And it only took you what, five years to figure out that clones can use chakra?"

Naruto stuck his tongue out. "How was I supposed to know?" he said. "Regular clones can't and it wasn't like I thought to _try_ it."

"Yeah, yeah." Kotetsu lazily waved his hand at Naruto as he closed his eyes once more. "By the way, how's that one seal of yours coming along? The one you've been working on for three years—the summon thingy."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "The reverse summon seals?" he questioned. "They're getting closer to completion. I was actually just working on them this morning before Shikamaru—a friend of mine—dragged me off to the Academy." He made a face at that and Kotetsu laughed.

"How do you expect to become a shinobi if you never go to school?"

"It's boring," Naruto complained. "I already know more than the Academy can teach me. And besides, I go to all the tests—"

"Except for when you're out of the country on one of your trips."

"—And I always ace them," he plowed on as though the Chuunin hadn't spoken. "So it's not like I'm failing or anything. So long as I pass the exam next week, I'll become a shinobi and even if I don't, I could still probably work something out. _Anyway_, I think I'm only a month or two away from finishing the seals. Maybe less, if I put all of my time into it."

Kotetsu jumped suddenly as the headset wrapped around his ear sent a shock of chakra into his body. Groaning, he dragged his body off the ground.

"Sorry, Naruto-kun," he apologized, "But the Hokage Tower is calling me in for a mission. I'll see you around, ne?"

"Sure, sure, Kotetsu," the blonde replied. "Have _fun_."

The older man sent him a mock glare before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

If there was one thing that Naruto was looking forward to about becoming a shinobi—and there were quite a few things, to be honest—it was those headsets. They were fascinating little devices that acted much like a civilian's beeper, only they gave off pulses of chakra instead of messages. They were generally used just to call a shinobi to the mission center in the Hokage Tower, but could be used to call a shinobi to different places or even to relay Morse code if needed. Naruto was itching to take one apart to see how they worked, but so far Ibiki hadn't let him.

Naruto stayed in the field, training, until it was well into the evening. Only then did he finally head for home, thinking of food all the while.

He ended up stopping at the Black Wolf Tavern for dinner, as he often did. Haru and the rest of the patrons had come to know him well since he had first gotten drawn into that fateful poker game, seven years ago. Haru served great food too, which was always a plus.

It was because of his familiarity with the tavern that Naruto knew that something was wrong the instant he stepped foot in the door. He hesitated there for a moment, frozen by the heavy atmosphere of the room. His eyes connected with Haru's and the deep sadness he saw there terrified him.

Haru slowly wiped his hands on a rag, before coming around from behind the bar and walking over to Naruto. Each step seemed to take an eternity for the blonde and as each moment passed the urge to run built up higher and higher, but he forced himself to stay regardless. Something was very, very wrong. And he _needed_ to find out what it was.

"Naruto...Tasuki's in the hospital."

They were the most devastating words Naruto had heard to date.

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Naruto spent the next week days in the hospital, at Tasuki's bedside. When Haru had first told him what had happened, he'd expected that Tasuki had gotten into a fight or something. Something other than this. _Anything_ other than this.

Tasuki was dying. Not from battle, not from wounds, not even from some fucking _disease_. No, instead he had cirrhosis; sclerosis of the liver.

He'd drunk himself to death.

It was uncharted territory for Naruto. He'd seen people die before, hell he'd even killed before himself. But this was completely different. Tasuki had no wounds to heal, no way to be saved. His body was slowly shutting down and there was nothing more that the doctors or the medic-nin could do to help.

Naruto had been training for so long to protect himself and those that he cared for. But in this situation there was nothing he could do but sit and watch as Tasuki slowly wasted away. The only other time he'd felt this helpless was when he'd faced Uchiha Madara all those years ago.

Tasuki died on a Tuesday.

The most unassuming day, in Naruto's opinion, and completely unworthy of marking the man's death. The sky didn't even have the grace to rain that day to mirror his sorrows. No, instead it was fucking _sunny_ out, as though the heavens themselves were mocking him.

Naruto was more than willing to admit that Tasuki had been the closest person to him, above Shikamaru, above Tenten, above Haru, above Ibiki, above Kenmaru, above Kotetsu, and above every other person he'd come to know. He was one of the few stable things in the blonde's life, always there in the background.

A shiver raced down Naruto's spine as he stared down at Tasuki's gravestone the evening after the funeral. Something about this situation felt so wrong. It _wasn't_ supposed to happen like this. Tasuki didn't even get to see him become a shinobi—!

The crunch of boots on gravel was all the warning Naruto had before a man joined him. The boy's shoulders tensed as he cursed himself for becoming so focused on the grave that he'd ignored his surroundings. That kind of narrow-sightedness could easily get him killed.

To Naruto's increasing unease, the man stopped right next to him. The blonde's eyes slowly slid around so that he could see the man and he was a little relieved—but also quite wary—to notice that his gaze was focused on Tasuki's grave.

The man had short black hair and dark, hard eyes. He looked to be in his early thirties and had a broad build that instantly made Naruto think that he could be a warrior. The blonde boy also immediately knew that he wasn't a shinobi however, so he passed it off as the man being a mercenary or something; maybe even a samurai. It didn't matter. What did matter was that he could be a threat.

Naruto had gotten so caught up in studying the man that he was momentarily caught off balance when he spoke. The blue eyed boy smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, what was that?"

The older man finally turned to look at him, amusement on his face. It was that lack of hostility in his eyes, as well as the sadness clearly portrayed there, that lowered Naruto's defenses a bit.

"Did you know him?" the man repeated.

Naruto nodded slowly. "Yes," he said softly, his gaze flickering back to the gravestone. "He was...like family." He turned back to the man with a look of curiosity on his face. "Did _you_ know him?"

There was a pause for a moment as the man turned to the gravestone as well. "I did...once..." he said finally. "Tasuki was my younger brother."

"E-Eh?" Naruto was sure his mouth was hanging open in shock.

The man glanced back at him with a smile curling at the edges of his mouth and suddenly Naruto could clearly see the resemblance between him and Tasuki. It was so obvious, now that he knew the truth, that he couldn't help but wonder how he hadn't seen it immediately.

"I am Kobayashi Daichi, by the way," the man said. "I...I came as soon as I received word of Tasuki's hospitalization, but I live in the capital so I'm afraid it took me far too long to get here. I was just too late..."

Daichi gulped deeply as the sorrow leaked into his voice. Naruto hung his head so that his hair covered his eyes. He could remember now that Tasuki had mentioned having an older brother, but he'd never expected to meet him—and certainly not under these circumstances.

The two stood in silence, staring at the grave with bowed heads, until the sun began to dip beneath the horizon. Only then did Daichi turn back to the Naruto.

"Know any good places to eat 'round here?"

The blonde finally cracked a grin. "Do I ever. How do you feel about ramen?"

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When Naruto walked into the Shinobi Academy the day of the final exam he wore a cold, determined expression on his face. His movements were a little stiff, though unnoticeably so, because he'd spent the past few days dealing with Tasuki's death in the only way he knew how to: By training the hell out of his Kage Bunshin. He'd also spent a day talking with Daichi, Tasuki's brother, before the older man had left Konoha.

Shikamaru stared at Naruto as the blonde took a seat next to him in the back of the classroom. There was a frown firmly planted on the young genius' face, but he said nothing; he already knew about Tasuki's death.

Naruto stayed unusually silent throughout the beginning of the class as Iruka told them about the test. It was a four part exam, apparently. The first part was a written exam, testing their theoretical knowledge. They'd be taking it during the first part of the day, while other students were to be called up one at a time into one of the two rooms off the main classroom to be tested by either Iruka or Mizuki on the other parts. The second part was a one-on-one spar with one of their instructors. The third part covered Genjutsu—both casting it and dispelling it. And finally, the fourth part covered the two main Ninjutsu that they'd learned as academy students.

It sounded like a walk in the park to Naruto.

By the time his name was called, it was already late in the afternoon and Naruto was bored out of his mind. He'd long since finished the written test and had pulled out the notebook on seal ideas that he carried around and begun to do some work of his own. Shikamaru was asleep next to him.

"Uzumaki Naruto," Iruka barked out.

Naruto sighed and slipped the small notebook into one of the numerous pockets on his pants. He stood from his seat and lazily made his way down to the front of the room. Iruka frowned at his lax behavior, but didn't comment until the door of the exam room was shut firmly behind them.

"Are you sure you're ready for this, Naruto?" the Chuunin questioned. "You haven't exactly been to class much..." Naruto smiled at the sincerely concerned note in his voice. He didn't know the older man very well, but he'd always been kind to him.

"I'll be fine," Naruto replied with a self-assured smirk. "Trust me."

"Alright then," Iruka sighed. "We'll start with the second part of the test. If you'll step over to the mats, we'll begin the spar."

With a nod, Naruto acquiesced and stepped onto the large mats that were set up on one side of the room. Iruka followed after him and settled into a basic Taijutsu stance.

"Just come at me with everything you have. The timer is set for thirty seconds. Begin."

Naruto lunged, immediately striking out at Iruka. The Chuunin blinked, surprised by the sudden show of aggression, and dodged out of the way. Or at least he would have, had Naruto's other fist not already been in his path. Shocked by this sudden display of speed and foresight—though he'd never actually seen Naruto fight before, now that he thought about it; he was always absent on those days—he attempted to twist out of the way again.

Iruka was beyond shocked to find himself quickly pushed into a corner. Naruto's fighting style was unlike anything he'd seen before. It was a blend street fighting and Taijutsu that left his mind reeling from the sheer unpredictability of it. One moment he'd see a classic attack that he knew how to counter in his sleep, but before he could perform that counter Naruto's motion would suddenly shift into something else entirely. The blonde's fighting was a mix of subtlety and bluntness that Iruka had never encountered before in his life.

By the time the timer went off, Iruka found himself on his back, staring up at the ceiling, stunned. "That wasn't the Academy Taijutsu," he said weakly as he pushed himself up.

Naruto grinned. "No," he agreed. "It wasn't."

"Where did you...?"

"I've picked stuff up here and there," the boy replied with a shrug. "I've had to learn to fight to survive."

Slowly a grin took over Iruka's face. "There are flaws, but the style itself is very unpredictable, which makes it deadly," he analyzed. With a grunt and a wince, he pulled himself to his feet, walked over to his clipboard, and jotted down a few quick notes for Naruto's grade. "I'd definitely recommend developing it further...Now for Genjutsu. Surprise me with this test too, eh, Naruto?"

The blonde grinned in reply. "Expect nothing less."

The rest of the exam was indeed just as easy as Naruto had expected. For the third part of the exam, Iruka had first required him to use the Henge technique to cast an illusion over himself and then had cast a Genjutsu on him and told him to break it. Thanks to his chakra control Naruto had barely had to move to accomplish this.

The fourth and final part of the exam had been to perform a Kawarimi and the regular Bunshin technique, two jutsu that Naruto could do in his sleep. He performed them manually with no problems at all and passed with flying colors.

"Alright," Iruka called a few minutes later as he and Mizuki stood up in front of the class. "We have the results for all of the tests now. We'll read through the list of those who have passed. When we call your name, please come up to get your hitai-ate."

Naruto zoned out as Iruka began reading through names, only perking up a bit when he heard someone that he recognized. Shikamaru passed, of course, along with Chouji, Hinata, Sasuke, and a ton of other people. By the time his own name was called, unsurprisingly, it had turned out that three fourths of the class had managed to pass.

It would have seemed like an unusually large number of new Genin had Naruto not already managed to pry from Ibiki that there was a secondary test. One administered by their Jounin sensei.

"Congrats, Naruto," Shikamaru said as they filtered out of the classroom. "How does it feel to finally be a shinobi, after so many years of training?"

The blonde shrugged. "Same as yesterday," he answered, eliciting laughs from all those around him.

_Just how did it feel?_ Naruto reflected inwardly. There was a sense of relief, to finally be taking this first step, and yet at the same time it felt as though some great weight had been set down onto his shoulders. And he wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. Did all new shinobi feel this way?

After saying goodbye to Shikamaru, Naruto stood outside near the school's swings, staring out at the parents as they congratulated their children. For a few moments he felt infinitely sad and Tasuki's face flashed before his mind's eye. The scared man had never been like a father to him—oh _Kami_, no. Both he and Tasuki would have stabbed themselves before _that_ happened—but he'd still been like family.

And yet, in that same instant, Naruto felt the weight from earlier lift from his shoulders. He was finally a Genin. And now, maybe now, he'd finally get the chance to protect all those who he'd come to care about. And of course, all the upcoming battles that he had to look forward to were a major plus as well.

"Hello, Naruto-kun," a voice behind him said. Naruto slowly turned around to face Mizuki, who was looming over him.

He couldn't help but wonder if he should be disturbed by the grin on the man's face.

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A/N: Even though I love his character, I've had Tasuki's death planned since before I started writing this story. His death is instrumental to Naruto's character development, since it teaches him that he doesn't have control over everything that goes on around him. On a related note, Tasuki's brother actually is a rather important character. However, you won't see him again for a very, very long time.

And yes I'll be changing a few things that I don't quite find realistic, such as the Genin exam (I mean _really_, only the Bunshin technique?). Hinata's personality will also be quite different in this story since she never had Naruto as a "role model". Instead of looking up to someone and wishing she could be like them, she had no choice but to stand on her own two feet.

There were a couple people who questioned the piercings Naruto got in the last chapter. All I have to say about this is that it has to do with his background and that they're actually very common in the shinobi world; even Shikamaru and Chouji already have piercings when they're twelve. And _technically_ it's canon, in a way, since a lot of Kishimoto's chapter title pages feature Naruto with his ears pierced. Also, the leather band around Naruto's neck will be explained in full detail a little later on, once Naruto finally shows what it does.

I'd also like to thank Taliath for pointing out that the Kyuubi does come very close to Konoha's gates. I'd completely forgotten about that. Considering that we know that when the Yondaime stopped the Kyuubi they were outside of Konoha though, I still don't think it ever made it all the way to Konoha.

Thanks for all your reviews! More info on this story can be found at www(DOT)groups(DOT)yahoo(DOT)com/group/ShadowRebirthFanfiction—including a headshot of what Naruto now looks like.

--S.R.


	9. Arc II :: Chapter 8 :: The Traitor

Title: Failing Twilight  
Author: Shadow Rebirth  
Beta Reader: Rukia23  
Rating: M  
Warnings: Death, blood and gore, coarse language, adult themes, spoilers  
Chapter WC: 5,964  
Total WC: 44,555  
First Written: December 12, 2008  
Last Edited: January 28, 2009  
Posted: December 18, 2008  
Summary: Naruto had learnt from a young age that life could get hectic, but all this chaos with Biju, daimyos, and psychotic missing-nin was going a bit too far. Now just throw in a fourth Great Shinobi War and you've got one pissed off seal master. AU story. No pairings.

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Failing Twilight

Chapter 8  
_The Traitor_

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"Hello, Naruto-kun," Mizuki said with a predatory grin. "Congratulations on passing the exam. I hadn't thought that you would."

Naruto plastered a fake smile onto his face. "Why thank you, Mizuki-sensei. It means a lot that you care," he replied.

If it was possible, Mizuki's grin grew even wider. "Of course, of course," he said. "That's what we teachers are here for. In fact, I'd like to help you even more."

There was something seriously wrong going on here. Naruto was tempted to scream rape, but something in the Chuunin's face told him that whatever was going on was deeper than that. So instead he responded with a polite, "Oh?"

"Yes. You see, there's a secondary test that's offered to those who do exceptionally well on the exam, such as yourself. If you pass this test then you're allowed to choose your teammates."

He was lying. Naruto knew this without a shadow of a doubt. He'd actually _read_ through some of the documents about the premises of the Genin exam. There was a secondary test, true, but that was only after they'd received their teams. Now the only question was why Mizuki would lie about this.

Naruto's eyes narrowed imperceptibly at the Chuunin instructor standing in front of him before he quickly twisted his expression into a smile. "Really?!" he said with faux enthusiasm. "I can choose my teammates?!"

Mizuki waggled one of his fingers. "Not yet, Naruto-kun," he said and the blonde twitched at the familiarity. "You have to pass the test first. Follow me; I'll take you to a secure location where I can tell you the details of the second test."

Naruto nodded eagerly and followed behind the Chuunin as he took off to the rooftops. He followed, torn between staying behind a bit, so that he could keep a good eye on Mizuki, and keeping up with him as so not to appear suspicious, before finally settling on an easy pace a few feet behind the Chuunin.

Mizuki led him through Konoha to a wide balcony. Once there, he proceeded to tell Naruto that he had to steal a special scroll from the Hokage Tower to pass the second exam. The blonde barely prevented himself from sweatdropping. Did the man _really_ expect him to fall for this? It was the _Hokage Tower_ for Kami's sake!

So blatant was Mizuki's plan that for a moment Naruto wondered if this was some sort of loyalty test. He'd heard nothing about such a thing however, so he decided to go with the best course of action that he knew of: Taking the potential traitor to Ibiki. If anyone, the Jounin would be able to work out what was going on.

All Naruto had to do was channel some chakra into his feet and then Shunshin over behind Mizuki and hit a nerve on his neck to knock the man out. It seemed disturbingly easy, but as Iruka had pointed out earlier that day, the unexpected could be deadly. Because he was "merely" a new Genin, Mizuki wrote him off as harmless and that was his fatal mistake.

With a sigh, Naruto shouldered Mizuki's unconscious body and activated his Shunshin tattoo-seal.

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Naruto was up bright and early the next morning, both dreading and anticipating his team assignment. It could turn out good or bad, depending on which people he got. And he still had no idea who his sensei could be.

He hadn't heard from Ibiki about Mizuki yet, so he assumed that the man was indeed a traitor. He wouldn't know for sure until one of the many clones that he had in the Intel Headquarters dispelled though. Perhaps he'd stop by during lunch...

Naruto was one of the last of the students to arrive at the Academy, despite his early rising. He blamed that entirely on his clones; he'd had to sort out a fight between a few of them. Bloody things were _too_ independent sometimes.

Iruka started off the class with a speech about how proud he was of them all and how now that they shinobi everything was going to get harder. Naruto noted that Mizuki was gone.

"Iruka-sensei?" Naruto began after raising his hand. He plastered a confused look over his face. "Where's Mizuki-sensei today?"

The other students began murmuring among themselves, wondering much the same thing. Iruka hesitated for a moment and that gave Naruto all the answer that he needed.

"He's...Unable to come today."

Naruto smirked and Shikamaru shot him a questioning look. _Tell you later_, the blonde mouthed back, still grinning. Shikamaru rolled his eyes and rested his head in his arms once more.

As Iruka began to read out the teams, Naruto finally focused all of his attention on the instructor. It seemed to take forever for Iruka to read through the names and then, finally—

"Team 7: Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke. Jounin instructor: Hatake Kakashi."

Naruto's eyes shot up. Hatake Kakashi was their instructor? As in the famous Sharingan Kakashi? And the last Uchiha was on his team as well? This just might turn out to be interesting...But it all depended on them.

"Good luck," Shikamaru grunted. Then he grimaced as his own team was called. "Figures they'd put us all together, just like our parents. Chouji's not so bad—I've known him for years now—but Ino...We've never really managed to get along..."

Naruto patted his friend's shoulder consolingly. "Things can change," he said optimistically. "As teammates, you'll doubtlessly be pulled together."

Shikamaru sighed and nodded. "Well, I suppose it's best to get this over with now, ne?"

A faint grin was his answer. Naruto nodded and then stood up to go over to his own team. Sakura, the pink haired girl, was already sitting next to Sasuke and staring up at him in awe.

"Uh, hi," Naruto said uncomfortably. Sasuke and Sakura stared at him. Naruto twitched. "Um...I'm Uzumaki Naruto. It's nice to...meet you?"

Sakura slowly stood up, a tentative smile on her face. Naruto could tell from her body language that she wasn't quite sure what to make of him. "I'm Haruno Sakura," she said.

"Uchiha Sasuke," the dark haired boy grunted.

Naruto chuckled and weaved his fingers behind his head while grinning. "So, teammates, eh? At least we got a good instructor."

"You know him?" Sakura asked curiously.

The blonde shrugged. "Know _of_ him, at least," he replied. "He's the famous Sharingan Kakashi."

Surprisingly, Sasuke's eyes widened in shock. Naruto had expected the boy to at least know that there was someone else with a sharingan, but apparently not. The blue eyed boy frowned thoughtfully.

"He's the only person who's not an Uchiha to have the sharingan," he said carefully, staring at Sasuke. The other boy was studying him through narrowed eyes. "I'm not sure how he got it." That was partially a lie. He'd read that the sharingan had belonged to his deceased teammate, Uchiha Obito, he just didn't know _why_ it'd been given to him.

"Uchiha?" Sakura questioned. Her wide eyes darted to Sasuke.

"It's my clan's bloodline limit," the Uchiha answered grudgingly. "But supposedly it can _only_ manifest in Uchiha."

The pink haired girl silently nodded in understanding. Her eyes were still glued to Sasuke and a small blush was on her face. Naruto twitched again.

"Er, right. I'm gonna...go now," Naruto said after a moment. "I've got something to take care of. I'll meet up with you again after lunch."

Neither Sasuke nor Sakura heard him. Sasuke was too busy boring a whole in his desk with his gaze, undoubtedly thinking about their sensei, and Sakura was still staring in awe at her crush. Naruto shrugged and walked away. Behind him, he heard the "conversation" pick up again.

"Sasuke-kun would you like to eat lunch together?"

"No."

Naruto's shoulders shook with silent laughter. Well, if nothing else, his team was at least going to be a source of amusement.

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Naruto strode into Ibiki's office without bothering to knock. Then his face faulted for a moment when he caught sight of the Jounin passed out on his desk. He sighed before kicking the base of the desk. Hard.

Ibiki jolted awake and was out of his seat almost faster than Naruto's eyes could track. The older man was already in a fighting position, a kunai in hand, when his eyes landed on Naruto. He glared.

"What the hell was that for, brat?!" Ibiki barked.

Naruto sent him a cheeky grin. "You shouldn't be sleeping on the job, Ibiki-sempai."

Still glaring, Ibiki sat back down in his desk. "I wouldn't _be_ sleeping if I hadn't been up half the night because of _you_," he growled. Then his face fell and he sighed while rubbing his face with one hand. "Turns out that Mizuki was indeed a traitor and I had to spend the past day getting everything out of him. Hokage-sama was pissed to find out since the man was an Academy teacher...It's going to take a while to figure out exactly what damage he's done." He smirked again. "Which means more paperwork for _you_."

Ignoring the barb, Naruto frowned deeply. "He was trying to steal the Forbidden Scroll, wasn't he?" the Genin questioned. "The one that's in Hokage-sama's office? But...How did he know about it? It's not exactly common knowledge and Mizuki was just a Chuunin Academy instructor.

"Exactly," Ibiki replied with a solemn nod. "We know that he was taking orders from someone and now all that remains is to find out who. Unfortunately, Mizuki is turning out to be alarmingly resilient. I'm starting to wonder if something is going on beyond your usual power hungry spy..."

Naruto's frown deepened even further. "Could I try...talking...to him sometime?" he asked.

Ibiki chucked. "Sure, why not, kid. But not today; you've got to meet Hatake first, don't you?"

The Genin started in surprise. "How did you—" he cut himself off with a shake of his head. "Never mind. I don't know why I'm surprised that you already knew about my team. Speaking of which, I should probably get going if I want to eat lunch today—"

"Sorry, Naruto," Ibiki interrupted with a shark-like grin. "But I'm afraid you'll have to skip that meal today. Now that you're a shinobi I can finally follow some procedures that I couldn't before."

Naruto froze. "Er, what?"

Ibiki picked a small, black square up off his desk. "This," he began, "Is a chakra chip. It uses similar technology to what's in chakra headsets, but serves a completely different purpose. These chakra chips are embedded in the back of the neck of everyone ranked Chuunin or higher or, as is in your case, in everyone who is a part of the Intel Department. From here, the Intel Headquarters, we're able to use the chips to track and identify anyone within five hundred miles of Konoha. This is especially useful for when shinobi are taken captive and for monitoring people coming through the gates.

With wide eyes, Naruto stared at the chip resting innocently in Ibiki's palm. Then his gaze narrowed. "But...can't the chip be taken out?"

"Unfortunately," his superior answered with a sigh, "That's a problem that we haven't been able to fix as of yet. If a shinobi goes rogue or if they're captured by someone who knows about the chips then the chips are relatively easy to remove and destroy. We've considered placing the chips over a vital spot on the body, but the procedure is far too risky."

Thoughtfully tapping his chin, Naruto stared off into space. These "chakra chips" sounded fascinating, but the flaws seemed too vivid. Though he had to admit that they reminded him off his—

"Tattoos."

Ibiki stared. "...What?"

"Tattoos," Naruto repeated, suddenly looking eager. "What if you used tattoos instead of chips? Then not only would they be much, much harder to remove, but you could graft skin over the tattoo to hide it."

"A very interesting and unique idea, to be sure," Ibiki replied while fighting back a smile. "But there's just one problem: These chips work because they store chakra that is released in pulses when we activate them here in Konoha. Exactly how would we manage to do that with a _tattoo_?"

"Not just a tattoo," Naruto said impatiently, "But seals. The ink for the tattoo just has to be laced with chakra and the user's blood, somewhat similar to the ink used with regular seals." As he spoke, Naruto pulled out his notebook again and began to quickly flip through it. He voice dropped a little as he began mumbling to himself. "If I combine a chakra containment seal and a minor summoning seal, with the appropriate limits—"

"Hold on there, kid," the Jounin suddenly interrupted. There was a clear note of incredulity in his voice. "Are you trying to tell me that you can _create_ a new seal?"

Naruto looked up from his notebook, blinking in surprise. "Uh, yeah. Of course I can," he said slowly. "The majority of the seals I use are either created from scratch or revised in some way."

"Well I'll be damned," Ibiki whistled. "I'd known you worked with seals, but not that you did so to this extent. Why the hell didn't you tell me?"

Oh Ibiki just _walked_ into that one. "Because you never asked."

Ibiki rolled his eyes. "Oh, of course," he said sarcastically. "Thank you so much for that _deep_ and _moving_ reply. Anyway, do you think you might be able to devise a seal like the one you're talking about?"

"Definitely," Naruto replied with a resolute nod. "It shouldn't be too difficult because it's not coming completely from scratch. Just give me a few weeks and I'll be done."

That dark grin that made Ibiki's scars twist in all sorts of interesting ways returned. "Good, good," he chuckled. "But in the mean time you're still going to need this chip."

Something about the expression on Ibiki's face made Naruto want to run away screaming. It was moments like these that he was forcefully reminded that Ibiki was nothing if not a sadist. But instead of fleeing, Naruto sighed resignedly.

"Alright. Let's get this over with."

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Naruto cursed aloud as he used Shunshin to get back to the Academy. His discussion with Ibiki and the implanting of the chip had taken a lot longer than he'd expected and now he was _way_ late for his meeting with his team. Why, oh why, hadn't he thought of leaving a Kage Bunshin at the Academy while he went to visit Ibiki? Hell, why hadn't he just _sent_ a Kage Bunshin in his place?

As soon as the blonde haired boy appeared in the classroom he looked around quickly, expecting everyone to be gone. Instead he came face to face with the shocked visages of Sasuke and Sakura.

The three Genin stared at each other, frozen in place, for several long seconds. "Uh...Hi?" Naruto ventured.

Sasuke twitched. _That_ couldn't be a good sign. Wincing imperceptibly, Naruto folded his hands across his chest.

"Sorry about being late," Naruto continued warily. His eyes were glued to Sasuke's. "I had something to take care of, but I didn't expect it to take so long."

Sakura scowled at him. "We're Genin now, Naruto," she scolded. "You can't be late or skip out like you did in the Academy; this is the _real_ world."

Naruto took a moment to stare at her, thoroughly amused by her words. _She_ was lecturing _him_ about the real world? How utterly twisted.

"Of course, Sakura-san," he replied dryly. The girl halted, suddenly looking uncertain. "Thank you for that...informative bit of wisdom." He glanced around the room once more. "Where's our sensei anyway?"

"Late," Sasuke said abruptly. "He hasn't come yet. That jutsu you used...It was Shunshin, correct?"

"Eh?" Naruto blinked in surprise. "Uh, yeah it was."

"Where'd you learn it?"

Naruto shifted uncomfortably. This conversation was starting to get _really_ awkward. Perhaps it'd be best if he steered it in another direction.

"Around," Naruto answered evasively. He shrugged. "I like to travel, so I've managed to pick some things up."

Sasuke frowned again. "Travel? I thought you were an orphan."

Oh shit. Maybe that hadn't been the best topic to choose. "I am," he answered shortly. Sasuke continued to stare at him.

Fortunately, the three new Genin were rescued from the ensuing tense silence by the opening of the classroom door. A man with spiky silver hair and a mask covering the bottom part of his face stuck his head inside and Naruto instantly recognized him as Hatake Kakashi.

The Jounin's single visible eye swept across the room briefly. Even with the mask, Naruto could tell that his face was stoic. Then, slowly, he smiled. It was not a good smile, the blonde thought with a shiver.

"Meet me on the roof."

And then Kakashi was gone, as though he'd never been there in the first place. Naruto resisted the urge to sigh again. He considered using the Shunshin technique to get up onto the roof, but a single glance at the annoyed faces of his teammates made him decide that that would be a bad idea. His relationship with them was already strained; there was no need to make things even worse than they already were.

The three Genin were silent as they trudged up to the roof. Kakashi was waiting for them there, leaning against a railing that split the two sections of the roof. He smiled at them again as they took a seat on the steps in front of him, but the only feeling Naruto could read off him was annoyance.

_Great, just great, _Naruto thought with an internal groan. He just _had_ to get the Jounin sensei who didn't want any students. This was going to turn out just _lovely_.

"My name is Hatake Kakashi," Kakashi began after a moment of silence, "And I might be your Jounin instructor."

"'Might be'?" Sakura repeated, confused. "What do you me—"

Kakashi made a sharp motion with his hand and Sakura instantly shut her mouth with an audible click. She hunched her shoulders a bit, looking nervous.

"As I was saying," Kakashi continued in bored voice, "I might be your instructor, but only if you pass the secondary Genin exam. But we'll talk about that later. First are introductions, since I don't know who you are."

A small frown slipped onto Naruto's face. The blonde knew perfectly well that all Jounin instructors were given detailed reports on their students, including all observations that their Academy instructors had made. Had Kakashi not read the reports, or was he just not revealing what he knew?

"I'm Uchiha Sasuke," the dark haired boy abruptly said, taking the initiative. He lifted his chin and looked Kakashi directly in the eye. Naruto had no doubt that he was still thinking about the sharingan. The way his gaze then locked onto the hitai-ate covering their teacher's left eye was confirmation of this.

In contrast to Sasuke's firm voice, Sakura was much more tentative after Kakashi's earlier silent rebuke. "H-Haruno Sakura."

Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura all glanced over at Naruto expectantly. For whatever reason, Naruto suddenly felt annoyance rise up within him. _This_ was not what he'd expected being a shinobi to be like. Maybe shinobi _were_ supposed to follow orders without question, but at the moment he couldn't bring himself to give a damn. And so instead, he crossed his arms in front of him and glared defiantly at Kakashi.

"I can't say that I think much of your skills as a shinobi if ya don't already know what our freakin' favorite foods are, let alone our names," Naruto said coolly.

To his great surprise, Kakashi just laughed in response. "I must say," he commented, "I didn't have you pegged for a wise-ass, Naruto-kun." The Genin bristled at the implied familiarity. "But aren't you worried that I'll just fail you and send you back to the Academy here and now? I could do that, you know."

For a single horrifying moment, Naruto's stomach dropped as he realized that Kakashi might be one of those shinobi who despised him for a being a Jinchuuriki. But...such beliefs were at odds with the Jounin's current expression; there was no hatred in his eyes, nor any disgust. No, instead there was _amusement_.

It was then that Naruto realized that Kakashi was toying with him.

He couldn't help but feel the urge to laugh then and immediately did so, ignoring how his teammates jumped in surprise. "I'm sure that you could," Naruto agreed with a grin. "But there wouldn't be any fun in that for you, now would there?"

A true grin overtook Kakashi face and he nodded cheerfully. Sasuke and Sakura looked between them, disbelief and confusion written on their faces.

"What just happened?" Sakura whispered to Sasuke. The dark haired boy just grunted in response.

"Well then," Kakashi said, clapping his hands together. His entire demeanor had changed from cold and callous to cheerful and amicable. "Now that we all know each other, let's get on with what this meeting is really about, ne? The secondary test I mentioned earlier is the 'real' Genin exam. The Academy exam was just to weed out all those who had no chance at becoming Genin. The true test will allow a much smaller amount of Genin to pass. In fact, on average there's a 66 percent failure rate."

Sakura gasped in surprise. "But, but, why wouldn't Iruka-sensei tell us about this?" she demanded.

Kakashi laughed once more, but this time there was a slightly sadistic note in his voice. "They didn't want to frighten you all away," he replied gleefully. "My test in particular is going to be _so_ much fun. Just show up at training ground #7 tomorrow morning at six." He stood up, brushed some non-existent dirt from his pants, and then smirked broadly. "Oh, and don't eat anything; you'll just throw it up."

And then he was gone.

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"Erhg," Naruto groaned. His head collided sharply with the polished wood of Haru's bar.

The barkeeper just looked on with amusement. "Interesting day, Naruto?" he asked.

"That's one way to put it," Naruto answered dryly. He lifted his head up and propped his chin up in his palm. "I got to meet my Jounin sensei today. Hatake Kakashi is...different. He's not at all what I expected."

Haru snorted. "When are they ever? You're a shinobi now, Naruto. There's always going to be an illusion covering _everything_."

"Too true," Naruto murmured. "Too true..." He sighed before abruptly perking up as he remembered something. "Hey, you got Daichi's address, right?"

"Tasuki's brother? Sure."

Naruto nodded firmly. "Good. I'd like to visit him sometime. He said he lived in Fire Country's capital right?

Haru let out a sharp bark of laughter. "Fire Country's capital?" he said. "Hell no! He lives in Keiraku, _the_ Capital."

The blonde's eyes widened in shock. Well _that_ changed things quite a bit. Keiraku was the capital of the continent, where the Emperor—the Sun Lord, the very man who _all_ the daimyo served under—lived. It was, as Haru had said, _the_ capital.

"Oh wow," Naruto breathed. "Daichi actually _lives_ there? I've heard that it's incredible; it's at least ten times as big as Fire Country's capital! The skyscrapers there are more than fifty stories and—"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down there, Naruto-kun," Haru chuckled. "We all know about Keiraku; it's legendary. Of course, so few people from around here get to see it because it's so far to the west, but...Well, I suppose that it just adds to the mystery of it, ne?" He winked playfully. "Maybe you'll get to go there one day and visit Daichi, eh?"

"Maybe one day," the Genin repeated quietly. He shook his head as if to clear it. "I'm going to go talk to Ibiki now; I'll see you later Haru."

"Whatever, kid," Haru replied jovially. "And good luck tomorrow!"

Naruto waved over his shoulder in reply as he stepped out of the tavern. He shoved his hands into his pockets and wound his way through the streets of Konoha, watching absently as the crowds slowly thickened around him. Before long, the boy was in the middle of Konoha's market sector. Only a few turns later and he was stepping inside Konoha's Intel Headquarters.

The shinobi standing guard inside didn't even bat his eyes as Naruto strode by. The blonde didn't spare him a glance either.

The winding halls of the building were a maze—complete with traps and Genjutsu—to most anyone. However, to Naruto, who'd been exploring these halls since he'd been five years old, it was easier to navigate than his rarely used apartment. He knew each passage so well that he could probably find his way around in his sleep.

Naruto stopped off at his own office first. It was tiny—or at least seemed that way because it was practically overflowing with paperwork. Two of Naruto's clones were inside, diligently working away.

"Hey Boss!" one of the clones greeted without looking up.

"You done with the papers?" Naruto asked.

The second clone grinned and then dispelled itself, unloading its memories into Naruto's mind. This included everything about Mizuki that the clone had found and read over the past day, from his parents' names to his favorite food. It was necessary for what was happening next.

"All the necessary forms are filed," the first clone answered. "You can go straight into Mizuki's cell."

Naruto nodded his thanks and then left the small office to go find Ibiki. When the scarred man wasn't in his office, the Genin shrugged and continued on.

The Intel Department's interrogation and detention cells were on the bottom floor of the building, which had been jokingly nicknamed the ID base—interrogation and detention base—by the Headquarters' workers. There was actually more than a hundred feet between the ID base and the floor above it. The two were connected only by a single chute that was encased in a chakra-repelling steel alloy. This same metal encased the entire ID base, ten feet thick at any given point. Shinobi guarded the floor in rotations and every corner of the building was monitored by video cameras and seals.

The only more secure place in Konoha was the war bunker buried 500 feet underneath the Hokage Tower.

And of course, blocking the chute to the ID base was a three foot thick seal-locked door. Naruto grinned at the sight of it, remembering the first time he'd seen it seven years ago; the first time he'd truly met Ibiki. Back then he hadn't been able to open the door no matter how hard he'd pulled. He still couldn't open it, of course, but _now_ he understood why.

"Oi, Yuugo, where's Ibiki?" Naruto called to the Chuunin guard standing near the door.

Yuugo shrugged. "Down in the ID base," he replied.

Naruto scowled in annoyance. Only the Hokage and the head of the Intel Department could open the vault door. And the current head was Ibiki. Who, at the moment, was _inside_ the base.

Yuugo rolled his eyes. "Hold on, Naruto-kun," he grumbled. "I'll contact Ib—"

"No need," an older voice rumbled behind them. Yuugo's eyes widened in shock and he quickly dipped into a bow.

"Hokage-sama!"

Naruto spun around and found himself staring into the withered face of Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage. The elder shinobi's kind eyes were a pale blue and Naruto saw his own reflection staring back at him.

"Hokage-sama," Naruto echoed after a moment, bowing as well.

Sarutobi chuckled and, to Naruto's shock, bowed his own head in response. "Uzumaki Naruto."

The Sandaime walked over to the vault door and Naruto and Yuugo automatically moved out of the way. He placed his hand in the center of the seal and channeled a brief burst of chakra in to it. The seals glowed briefly as they processed the chakra. Then, with an almost inaudible click, the door opened. Sarutobi stepped into the elevator shaft inside and gestured for Naruto to follow him, which the blonde did without hesitation.

As soon as the door had closed behind them, Sarutobi channeled another burst of chakra into a seal on the shaft wall. Immediately, the platform beneath their feet began to move downwards. Almost everything in the Intel Headquarters was run on chakra instead of electricity; that way a blackout wouldn't affect them. The Hokage Tower was the same way.

"You're going to visit Mizuki, I assume?" Sarutobi asked.

Naruto nodded. "I'm curious," he admitted. "I'd like to see what he had to say."

"You should be... alert," Sarutobi said after a moment and Naruto could tell that he was picking his words carefully. "Mizuki holds no love for you..."

"Because of the Kyuubi," Naruto supplied. The widening of the Sandaime's eyes told him that Sarutobi hadn't known that he knew about his Jinchuuriki status. "I figured it out quite a few years ago," he quickly continued. "The seal on my stomach isn't exactly...subtle."

The elder Hokage chuckled and patted Naruto on the shoulder before growing serious again. "That is true," he agreed, "But it also is all the more reason for you to be wary around Mizuki. He is, unfortunately, among those who hold an extreme dislike for you because of the Kyuubi. That is doubtlessly why he singled you out yesterday...Well, that and your rather _interesting_ academic record."

Naruto couldn't help but a crack a grin. From what he'd heard of the Sandaime, he'd expected the man to be an overly serious bookworm, or something of the sort. He was much, much warmer than he'd expected and Naruto found himself relaxing in the man's presence.

When the elevator platform came to a halt at the bottom of the chute, the bottom floor opened up immediately before it. There was large room that held a group of several desks and filing cabinets directly before them and a long hallway behind that, leading to the detention cells.

Standing in the middle of the room was Ibiki and half a dozen other shinobi. Ibiki almost gaped for a moment when Naruto and Sarutobi stepped off the lift. He quickly schooled his expression and strode over to meet them.

"Hokage-sama. To what do I owe this visit?" Ibiki asked formally.

"Just dropping by," Sarutobi replied with another chuckle. He glanced over at Naruto. "Go on ahead, Naruto-kun. It was nice to finally get to meet you."

The blonde haired boy bowed once more and then swiftly walked over to one of the other kunoichi.

"Hey, Kana, I—"

"I know, Naruto-kun," the kunoichi replied with a small smile. "I've already gotten the paperwork. You'll have a half an hour. Come, I'll lead you to Mizuki's cell."

Naruto felt as though he was thrumming with energy as he followed Kana down the long hall. It wasn't that he was _excited_ about talking to Mizuki or anything, but the traitor was a puzzle. And there were few things Naruto loved more than a puzzle. Who was the man he was taking orders from? What had his goal been? And _why_?

They passed by many cell doors along the way and Naruto peered inside curiously. He'd only been down in the ID base a few times before and never this far back. Most of the prisoners that he saw were chained to the walls with their fingers bound so that they couldn't perform jutsu. Their chains were inscribed with special seals that repressed their chakra.

Eventually, Kana stopped in front of one of the ID base's interrogation rooms. Mizuki was seated in a chair in the middle with his arms and legs bound. He was caked with dirt and blood, but seemed relatively unharmed.

Kana nodded once to Naruto and then took up position right next to the door, readying to interfere if necessary. Naruto mimicked the gesture before turning back to Mizuki. During their exchange the pale haired man had head lifted his head so that his dark eyes were glowering at Naruto.

"You!" Mizuki hissed.

The Genin grinned. "Me," he agreed. "Hello again, Mizuki-_sensei_. Enjoying your stay? I hear the Intel Department has some rather nice accommodations.

Mizuki hissed in wordless fury. He thrashed against his binds as Naruto strode closer, as though wanting to throttle the boy, but was unable to move even an inch. After a few minutes he settled once more, still glaring with a palpable hatred that seemed to thicken the air around them.

"What do you want?" he finally asked.

"The truth would be nice," Naruto replied, "But I doubt I'm going to get it."

He turned his attention away from the traitor for a moment to find a chair and pull it up in front of Mizuki. Then he sat cross-legged in it and rested his chin in his palms so that he could study the Chuunin.

"Why did you want to steal the Forbidden Scroll?" Naruto asked curiously.

Mizuki scoffed. "You really think I'm going to tell you that?" he sneered.

Naruto shrugged. "You tell me. I—"

"Shut up!" Mizuki howled. Though still enraged, his face had taken on a hint of insanity. "Let me ask you something instead! You want to know why all the villagers hate you? You want to know why?!"

"Let me guess," Naruto stated in a bored tone. "Because I've got the Kyuubi no Kitsune sealed in me?" He had to admit that Mizuki's taken aback expression was quite satisfying. "Yeah, not that much of a shock, _sensei_. I learned about the Kyuubi years and years ago. And frankly, morons like you who are unable to see the fact that I'm not a 200 foot tall mass of chakra are annoying. So please don't go into the 'you are a demon' speech that it looked like you were about to use."

The Chuunin's rage reached new heights, which was exactly what Naruto had been aiming for. Another few sniping comments and the man was once again struggling in his seat, spewing out insults. It was rather difficult for Naruto to suppress a triumphant grin.

"If you're such an incredible shinobi then why couldn't you get the Scroll yourself?" Naruto asked with a pretentious scoff. "You had to ask a _Genin_—"

"Well of course I was going to blame it on you!" Mizuki snapped. "Then I could kill you and be hailed as a hero so that no one would notice when I left to give the Scr—" His mouth instantly shut and the Chuunin began cursing internally.

Naruto finally allowed his grin to show. Like most people, Mizuki had a looser tongue when riled up. He'd accidentally let something slip.

"So you _are_ working for someone," the blonde commented. His head was tilted to the side as he purposefully played the part of an innocent boy. Even if Mizuki didn't believe the act it'd have an unconscious effect on him. "Who?"

Lips tightly sealed, Mizuki turned his head to glare at the wall. Naruto sighed, realizing that he would get nothing else from the traitor this day. The man had realized that he'd said too much and would be far more careful now, if he even said anything at all.

Naruto turned to leave, nodding to Kana once more. As soon as he stepped out of the interrogation room however he froze, seeing Ibiki and the Hokage standing just outside, both wearing contemplative expressions.

They'd been listening.

"Uh," Naruto hesitated, staring at the two powerful shinobi. He sketched a quick bow and began to slide past them. "Hokage-sama, Ibiki-sempai."

Was it just his imagination or had there been a pair of eyes staring at him as he left?

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A/N: I know that some people wanted Naruto to be on a different team from canon and I did seriously consider giving him different teammates. However, what I have planned for this story will only really work with Sasuke and Sakura. Granted, that certainly doesn't mean that they won't change from what their canon characters are like.

I've decided to give the continent an Emperor, since the government already works so much like feudal era Japan. Keiraku will be talked about later on. And more about chakra chips will be explained later on as well. And yes, Mizuki will play a slightly larger roll in this story. I'll say nothing more than that though.

This is completely unrelated, but...I was just rereading Jiraiya's fight with Pain when I realized something: Jiraiya has a nose piercing. Huh...Well, either that or it's a wart. It's kind of hard to tell.

Thanks for all your reviews! More info on this story can be found at www(DOT)groups(DOT)yahoo(DOT)com/group/ShadowRebirthFanfiction.

--S.R.


	10. Arc II :: Chapter 9 :: The Team

Title: Failing Twilight  
Author: Shadow Rebirth  
Beta Reader: Rukia23  
Rating: M  
Warnings: Death, blood and gore, coarse language, adult themes, spoilers  
Chapter WC: 6,828  
Total WC: 51,383  
First Written: December 17, 2008  
Last Edited: January 28, 2009  
Posted: December 21, 2008  
Summary: Naruto had learnt from a young age that life could get hectic, but all this chaos with Biju, daimyos, and psychotic missing-nin was going a bit too far. Now just throw in a fourth Great Shinobi War and you've got one pissed off seal master. AU story. No pairings.

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Failing Twilight

Chapter 9  
_The Team_

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Blue eyes.

It was all that Gaara could think about. Those blue, blue eyes. They haunted his every step as though they were always there, watching him. They were always watching. They pierced his soul, weighing his actions and slowly tearing him apart.

Gaara didn't know who the boy had been. He wasn't even sure if he'd been real. He'd only been his age and he'd had those blue, blue eyes and he'd somehow managed to defeat him and enrage Mother in only a few seconds. Gaara hadn't thought it was possible.

He'd never seen his own blood before. He'd never been cut, never felt physical pain. But those eyes had managed to do what no one, not even his uncle, had been able to do before. He'd hurt him.

Maybe he was a spirit? Gaara had heard about those. Powerful spirits that roamed the earth and watched over mortals...Gaara had never considered himself human before, but those eyes had reminded him that he was, no matter what Mother or the others said. He was sure that those blue eyes were still watching him, just waiting for him to put a toe out of line so that they could stop him.

Sometimes Gaara thought about doing something really bad, just so that those eyes would come back. So that he could see them again. But then those eyes might be angry and he didn't want that. Never that. So instead he waited patiently for the eyes to reveal themselves to him on their own time.

No one ever bothered to ask where Gaara's bloodthirsty nature had gone.

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Naruto spent the rest of the evening training for the coming test. He didn't know what the test itself would be since each Jounin gave their own version of it, but he did know that Kakashi had yet to pass a team since he'd retired from ANBU.

By six AM the next day he was already at the specified training ground, waiting for his sensei and teammates to arrive. When Sasuke and Sakura did show up they found him sitting on small red bridge, meditating to conserve his energy.

"What're you doing, Naruto-san?" Sakura asked curiously.

The blond cracked one eye open. "Meditating," he said shortly before closing the eye again. Sakura got the hint and skipped over to stand next to Sasuke.

An hour later their sensei still hadn't shown up. Naruto was thoroughly annoyed and was beginning to wonder if this was going to become a routine. He was almost about to start practicing the silent-step exercise again out of sheer boredom when a whirlwind of leaves finally announced Kakashi's arrival.

"Yo," the Jounin said entirely too cheerfully. He was greeted with three sullen glares. "Uh, right. The exam." His smile turned dark once more. "Yes, the exam. As I mentioned yesterday, this exam will test both your skills and your ability to work as a team, which is significantly important to your shinobi careers." He then pulled out a time and a small silver bell attached to a thread. "Somewhere within this training ground a bell like this one is tied to the trunk of a tree. You must retrieve this bell and bring it back here before the timer goes off; it's set for noon. As soon as you have the bell I will attempt to stop you by any means necessary."

No, that definitely wasn't a good smile.

And yet, at the same time, Naruto couldn't help but feel excited. This was just like a mission. A _real_ mission. And if he passed this, then he'd become a shinobi for real. Naruto did nothing to stop his growing grin.

"Ready?" Kakashi asked brightly. He set the timer down in the middle of the clearing and pushed a button on the top. "Go!"

And then he disappeared in a small puff of smoke.

Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke all shared a glance. Naruto looked excited and Sakura looked nervous, but Sasuke just looked disgruntled.

"If you keep glaring at the grass like that, it's probably going to burst into flames," Naruto commented dryly.

Sasuke scowled at him. "Whatever. Just don't get in my way, okay? I don't want you two to weigh me down and prevent me from becoming a Genin."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Didn't you hear what Kakashi-sensei said, _Uchiha_? We're being graded on teamwork as well as skill, which means that we _have_ to work together or you _will_ fail."

Sakura glanced between the two, wringing her hands nervously. She looked as though she was torn between agreeing with Naruto and defending Sasuke. Naruto rolled his eyes again, but his grin never faltered.

"Look," the blond conceded, "Let's just get going. Do either of you know any tracking techniques?" They just stared at him. "...Right. Well, then we _could_ do this the old fashioned way and just look for the bell, but that'll take too long and we're on a time limit. So I guess we'll just have to do this _my_ way then."

Without further ado, Naruto formed a cross shaped seal and created a hundred Kage Bunshin—like _hell_ he was going to reveal his seal-tattoos just yet—and sent them off to scour the training ground.

"What the hell was that?" Sasuke demanded. "Do you really think that Bunshin will—?"

"They're Kage Bunshin, not regular Bunshin," Naruto replied absently. "They're solid clones and— There we go. I found the bell. Careful though; the forest is filled with traps."

Sasuke grudgingly nodded, accepting the answer for now, even if he didn't like it. With Naruto in the lead, the three Genin took off through the forest at a quick pace. They barely got twenty feet however, when the blond abruptly stopped.

"Wait—" he called out, but was a second too late. Sakura had already taken another step, triggering the nearly invisible trip wire and sending a dozen shuriken hurling at them. Naruto grabbed Sakura around the waist and, ignoring the girl's indignant yelp, used Kawarimi to switch them with a nearby branch. Sasuke had already ducked out of the weapons' trajectories, using a tree as a shield.

Sakura huffed as she pulled herself away from Naruto, but did mutter out a brief "thank you". Naruto flashed a grin before taking up the trail once more.

The team encountered several other traps along the way, but dispatched them all with relative ease. Sasuke used a fire jutsu once, to Naruto's surprise and Sakura's awe. Naruto had forgotten that the Uchiha had been at the top of their class and hailed as a genius while in the Academy; perhaps now he was starting to see why.

Within a half an hour they'd finally reached a tree with a bell on a string that was tied around its trunk. It was rather annoying to Naruto to be moving so slow when he could so easily have pumped some chakra into his legs and gotten to the tree within a few minutes, but Kakashi had said that they had to work as a team and there was no way in _hell_ that he was going to fail.

Sasuke stalked forward and cut the bell free with a flash of a kunai before pocketing it. He nodded at his teammates with narrowed eyes and Naruto had to wonder if the dark haired boy was considering ditching them to take the bell for his own. But whatever thoughts had passed through the boy's mind, he joined Naruto and Sakura again.

As they began to make their way back through the forest, Naruto felt his hackles raise and his instincts go wild. "We're being watched," he muttered quietly.

Sakura opened her mouth in surprise, but the blond cut her off with a quick shake of his head. She nodded mutely and closed her mouth, agreeing to be silent. Sasuke was already scanning the foliage from the corners of his eyes.

A brief pulse of chakra caused Naruto to whip his head around, his mouth already forming a warning, but by then it was too late. Dozens of shuriken rained down on them, followed shortly by Kakashi.

Eyes narrowed, Naruto activated his Kawarimi seal, rapidly switching places with one shuriken after another so that he could get closer to their sensei. It worked well up until he was suddenly greeted with a kick to the face that sent him flying backward. Naruto swiftly rolled into a crouched position, growling in frustration.

Meanwhile, Sasuke had proceeded to attack Kakashi with Taijutsu. The Jounin easily batted his attempts away, as though he was barely even worth the effort. Snarling in rage, the Uchiha leapt back abruptly and began the handseals for that fire jutsu of his. To Naruto's momentary shock, the attack directly connected. But when the smoke cleared away, all that was left was a small log.

Kawarimi.

Team 7 waited, tensed, but Kakashi didn't show up again. Sakura shared a shaky look with her two teammates, before beginning to walk forward again. Naruto shrugged and followed and heard Sasuke do the same.

Now that they'd been attacked, the three Genin were far more wary. The simple traps had put them off their guard, but they remembered now that Kakashi had said that he'd do _anything_ to stop them. The only remaining question was, just how far _would_ he go? Was he allowed to kill them—even by accident?

They walked in silence, ever aware of their surroundings. Thus they were already ready when Kakashi appeared once more. What they _weren't_ ready for however, was for Kakashi to grab Sakura and hold a kunai to her neck. Naruto and Sasuke froze, unsure of what to do.

"Give me the bell," Kakashi growled. He was completely serious, all of the playful amusement from earlier gone.

Naruto gulped, feeling completely out of his depth. When fighting, he'd never actually had to worry about other people before, only himself. Even when he'd helped guard merchant caravans from bandits on occasion, he'd never had to worry about them taking anyone captive; it wasn't their style, for one, and all of the merchants had been tucked away in the wagons, guarded by mercenaries.

He honestly wasn't sure what Kakashi would do.

The four shinobi stared at each other, none of them—not even Sakura—daring to move. They were at an impasse and seemed that there was nothing they _could_ do.

Until, of course, Sakura did something none of them could have expected and pushed the kunai away from her throat with her bare hand and rolled out of Kakashi's reach. Even though Naruto was sure that Kakashi could have stopped her had he really wanted to, he couldn't help but smirk widely as he and Sasuke jumped to stand in front of Sakura.

Naruto placed his hands into the cross shaped seal and once again created a few dozen Kage Bunshin. While they engaged Kakashi, Naruto grabbed Sasuke and Sakura and began to pull away from the battle.

Sasuke jerked from his grip only a few seconds later, a snarl on his face. He began to turn back towards Kakashi before the blond gripped his shoulder once more, this time channeling chakra into his hand so that Sasuke couldn't break free.

"No!" Naruto whispered harshly. "We're supposed to get back to the clearing with the bell, not defeat Kakashi in combat. Do you want to become a Genin or not?"

The dark haired boy scowled fiercely at him, but eventually relented. Sakura watched the exchange with narrowed eyes, tightly holding her hand all the while. The bleeding had slowed down, as the cut was shallow, but she'd need to get it bandaged as soon as possible to prevent any infection.

Naruto jerked his head and the three began moving hurriedly through the forest again. Naruto winced each time one of his clones was dispelled by Kakashi, but he'd long since learned how to ignore the brief flashes of pain and death as the clones' memories returned to him. It was interesting, really, to know that he'd technically died thousands of times.

"Shit!" the blond swore suddenly. His teammates sent him inquiring glances. "Kakashi's gotten rid of most of the clones," he explained grimly. "He's breaking through..."

Sakura looked away from him and frowned deeply at the ground as they ran on. Naruto could tell just from looking at her that her mind was working furiously to come up with a solution. He was curious about what she would say; after all, in the Academy only Shikamaru had had better theory scores than her, and Shikamaru was able to come up with some brilliant plans.

"Sasuke-kun," the pink haired girl said suddenly, "You've got some shinobi wire, right?" When the boy grunted affirmatively she turned her gaze onto their third teammate. "Naruto, can you make more of those...clones?"

"Kage Bunshin? Sure. How many do you need?"

Sakura had a surprisingly vicious grin. "Oh, just a few."

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Kakashi had to admit that he was surprised and more than a little curious. This team had turned out _nothing_ like he'd expected.

He'd expected Sasuke to go off and try to accomplish the "mission" on his own, but the boy had actually stayed with his teammates. Plus, the Jounin certainly hadn't been expecting the boy to know** Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu** (_Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique_) or such powerful Taijutsu yet. Sasuke certainly was an Uchiha. Sakura had also surprised him. He'd never pegged her as one to take the risk to get away like that.

Uzumaki Naruto, however, was without a doubt the most intriguing member of the team. On record the boy was described as being a lazy slacker who rarely went to school and usually slept in class when he did. His teachers believed that he'd never amount to anything, though it was possible that that was their bias speaking. Despite this however, the boy's test scores were incredible. He received full points on every single test he took, including the Genin exam. It had befuddled Kakashi at first, but no one he'd spoken to had been able to answer his questions. It was as though no one knew the boy.

Now having met and fought against Naruto though, Kakashi understood. Naruto was an incredible fighter with powerful reflexes who'd clearly had advanced training in all of the shinobi arts. And just where had he learned to make Kage Bunshin? That was a Jounin level technique known only by a few shinobi! Kakashi was definitely going to have to talk to the Sandaime when this was all done with.

Overall, Kakashi was surprised to feel rather...content...with Team 7. They were different from all of the other Genin he'd received and fit together astoundingly well, balancing each other out. Maybe, just maybe, this could work out...

As he dispatched the last of Naruto's Kage Bunshin—just how much chakra did the boy have?!—he turned his attention back to the forest. He could feel his students' chakra in the distance, but surprisingly they weren't moving. The Jounin's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. Just what were they planning?

Kakashi took to the trees and swiftly made his way through the forest. His passage made no sound and even the birds were not disturbed. The Genin would never know that he was coming.

It wasn't long before Kakashi caught sight of the shinobi wire. He slowed to a stop before it, raising an eyebrow at how obviously it'd been strung up between several trees, to obstruct passage. Did his students really believe that he wouldn't notice the wire? His estimation of them dropped a notch.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said brightly.

The boy had just strolled into view as though they weren't in the middle of an exam. Kakashi's eyebrow rose a little more. He could sense Sasuke and Sakura off in the distance, behind a nearby copse of trees. There were several others with them that Kakashi assumed to be more clones. Just what were they playing at?

"Ah, Naruto-kun," Kakashi responded with a smile. "Where are your teammates?"

"Around," the blond said, making a dismissive gesture with one hand. "Say, sensei, I think it'd be best if you stayed right where you are."

"Oh really? And why is that?"

Naruto shrugged. "Oh, you know, self-preservation and all that junk." Kakashi's second eyebrow joined the first and Naruto's smile turned razor sharp. "There are exploding tags all around you, you see, and if you make the wrong move they just might go off."

Kakashi froze. The boy could be bluffing; there might not be anything around him. But there also just might be. Slowly, the silver haired man grinned and settled back on his heels.

"Exploding tags, huh?" he mused. "Alright, then, just what do you want."

Naruto put on a mockingly innocent expression. "Want, Kakashi-sensei? Whatever do you mean? We already have the bell, so exactly what could we _want_?"

"You tell me," Kakashi answered wryly. "You wouldn't be standing out here if you didn't want to negotiate; if the tags go off, you'll be caught in the blast too."

That sharp grin returned. "Ah, but I'm a Kage Bunshin, you see, so it doesn't matter," he said, chuckling. "It's good to be cautious, sensei, but you've got to make sure that you're focusing on the right threat."

Abruptly, the clone threw itself towards the wires and even as Kakashi shifted into a defensive position, the clone passed straight through. The Jounin's eyes widened in shock, realizing that it'd been a regular Bunshin all along, but by then the ground around him had already exploded, not with exploding tags, but with more Naruto clones as they shrugged off the Henge that had been hiding them as various pieces of nature.

Everything happened too quickly then and before Kakashi knew it, he was wrapped in ninja wire and Sasuke was in front of him with the various clones surrounding them. The Uchiha smirked widely before beginning the handseals for his fire jutsu once more. Kakashi breathed in sharply in shock, knowing that the fire would travel down the wire, instantly frying him.

Kakashi used Kawarimi to get out of the area as quickly as possible. He crouched on the lower branch of a tree, tensely waiting for the explosion that he knew was about to come.

Nothing happened.

The Jounin stared into space, confused for a moment. But then, as the chakra of his students began moving farther away, he quickly realized what had just happened: He'd been tricked.

He laughed long and hard as he sat there. It'd been a while since something like this had happened, since anyone—let alone three Genin—had managed to so thoroughly trick him like this. Every single person that he'd encountered within the last minute had been a clone. One of those clones had been disguised as Sasuke, to make Kakashi think that he was going to use his fire jutsu so that the Jounin would flee. Meanwhile, the real team was making their way back to the clearing and would undoubtedly arrive in time.

Still chuckling, Kakashi stood up and leapt from the branch.

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Naruto, Sakura, and even Sasuke were smiling widely when Kakashi appeared next to the small red bridge right as the alarm went off. The Jounin turned off the alarm and then held out his hand, asking for the bell. Wordlessly, Sasuke stepped up and handed it to him.

"Congratulations," Kakashi beamed. "You're the first team to pass."

It took a few seconds for the sentence to sink into the Genin's minds. When it did however, Sakura and Naruto whooped for joy and Sasuke's smirk widened into a toothy grin. The happiness was contagious and soon Kakashi was laughing along with them.

"I've got to go inform the Hokage about this," Kakashi said after a moment. Amusement was still thick in his voice. "Why don't you three celebrate today? Be here tomorrow morning at the same time."

As Kakashi disappeared in a swirl of leaves, Naruto turned to his teammates, still grinning. "Celebrating sounds like a good idea to me," he said. "How about we all go out to eat? I know of a great little ramen place."

Sasuke and Sakura shared a glance before shrugging. "Sure. Why not?" Sakura answered brightly. Sasuke nodded mutely.

Naruto was starting to think that he just might get along with his team.

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Several miles away, Kakashi stood with ten other Jounin in front of the Sandaime. The elder Hokage was puffing away at his pipe as he called out names.

"Asuma?" Sarutobi grunted.

"Team 10 passed," the man replied formally. Unsurprised, Sarutobi marked something down on the clipboard in front of hum.

"Shotaro?"

"Team 9 failed." The pen scratched away again.

"Kurenai?"

"Team 8 passed." Another mark.

"Kakashi?"

"Team 7 passed."

The pen stopped. Everyone in the room stared at him in shock. Kakashi just smiled brightly, as though oblivious to the looks he was getting.

"...Right..." Sarutobi said slowly. As he marked something down once more, Kakashi noticed that there was a small smile on the man's face. Interesting.

Sarutobi continued down the list, but none of the remaining teams had managed to pass. The Sandaime nodded seriously to himself before dismissing all but the three Jounin who'd passed their teams. Then he set down his pipe, folding his hands on the desk before him, and looked at the Jounin with a grim expression.

"This year things are going to be done a bit differently," Sarutobi said, instantly perking the shinobi's interest. "You're going to push these Genin hard and train them into the ground. Within the next six months I want all of them to be Chuunin level."

Kurenai reeled back, surprised. "Hokage-sam—!"

"Why?" Kakashi swiftly interrupted. His eyes were narrowed and his expression was deadly serious.

The Sandaime sighed wearily. "Two days ago a traitor was uncovered in this village," he replied. "He had planned to attempt to steal the Forbidden Scroll, but fortunately, was stopped and brought in to Ibiki before the plan could come to fruition. Since then, we have found that the shinobi was not trying to steal the scroll for himself, but that he'd been order to do so. We still don't know who exactly it is that he works for, but Ibiki should be able to get it out of him before long.

"In the meantime, these events have drastic consequences. None of the Villages have been this open in their actions since the last Shinobi War. Plus, just the fact that one of our own turned traitor has disturbing implications. How many spies might already be in the Village? I fear that waves are beginning to be made in the shinobi world again. We must make sure that the next generation is ready so, as I said, train these children with every once of your will power."

A single hand motion dismissed the three Jounin, who bowed formally before leaving. Once he was alone in the office once more, Sarutobi turned to stare out at the expanse of Konoha that was visible from the open windows in his office. He heaved a heavy sigh, hoping that all was not already lost.

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Pein did not turn when he heard someone enter the room. His gray, ringed Rinnegan eyes stared out at the rain blanketing the city before him. He wondered if he should feel proud that this city was his own, that here he was a god, but he felt nothing. Nothing at all, save perhaps a small bit of amusement.

He'd long since left human emotions behind.

The visitor finally stopped a few feet behind him. Though he already knew who it was, Pein glanced back to meet Orochimaru's gaze. Silence reigned for several long minutes.

"Well?"

Orochimaru bowed his head respectfully. "I'm afraid that the Leaf Village had foiled Mizuki's plot to steal the Forbidden Scroll."

A faint smirk curled at the edges of Pein's mouth. "Good..." he muttered.

Orochimaru's head jerked up, revealing his surprise. "You...You expected this?"

Pain chuckled. It was dark laughed that didn't even remotely sound human. "Of course," he said smoothly. "Did you really think that we needed that scroll? No, the only purpose in sending Mizuki was to alert the Leaf Village that something was going on."

"Pein-sama...?"

The smirk widened just a little bit. "After all," he continued, almost sounding as though he was talking to himself, "If they think that a war is brewing then they will prepare for it. And we can't have them taken down too easily in the coming chaos, now can we?"

"...Of course, Pein-sama."

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Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura showed up at training ground #7 at six O'clock the next morning and were shocked to find that Kakashi was already there, waiting for them. They'd half expected the Jounin to be late like he'd been the past two days.

"Good morning," Kakashi greeted.

Naruto frowned at him, not bothering to reply even as his teammates muttered their own greetings. Kakashi had a different air about him than he'd had for the past few days. He was acting even more serious and professional than the first time they'd met him.

"We're going to be training until lunch," Kakashi said without any further ado. "After that we'll take a break to have lunch and do a D-rank mission before training again until eight tonight. This will be your schedule almost everyday for the next few months, until you're all strong enough to perform C-rank missions. I suggest you try to get a good amount of food and sleep every day; you're going to need it."

Naruto exchanged glances with his teammates. Kakashi's rather brusque attitude was _definitely_ different. What had happened to warrant the change?

"There is one main thing that we're going to be working on in today's training," the silver haired Jounin continued. "Before we can start on anything else all three of you need to learn how to harness your chakra in order to maximize your proficiency. The first exercise you'll be doing is the tree climbing exercise—"

"Uh, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto interrupted, hesitantly raising one hand. "I, uh, already know how to do that."

"No, Naruto," Kakashi said with a sigh. "This exercise is different. It involves climbing trees without your hands—"

"I know. I already know the exercise."

Kakashi blinked several times, clearly surprised. Then his eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Show me."

With a shrug, Naruto walked up to the closest tree. Under his sensei and teammates' curious gazes, he placed one foot on the trunk, then the other, and then began to walk vertically up the tree. He walked all the way up and back down again, grinning all the while at his teammates shocked looks.

"Hmm, well I suppose that you do know the exercise," Kakashi mused. He turned to Sasuke and Sakura. "As Naruto just demonstrated, in order to perform this technique you have to channel a small amount of chakra to your feet so that you stick to the tree trunk. Not only does this exercise teach you how to stick to any surface, but it helps you to learn how to properly control your chakra. Naruto, since you've already got this down, then I suppose you'll just have to start on water walki—"

"I know that one too." Kakashi stared at him. Naruto shifted uncomfortably. "I'm working on the silent-step exercise right now," he added helpfully, "But I don't have it mastered yet."

Kakashi continued to stare. "...Naruto, don't you have a lot of chakra?" The blond nodded vigorously. "...When did you start learning these chakra control exercises?"

"When I was...seven? No, eight. I think."

"...Right," Kakashi said slowly. "You just...go start working on the silent-step exercise, okay? I'll come talk to you in a minute."

Naruto winced imperceptibly as he walked over to an open patch of grass, out of hearing range of his teammates. That didn't sound good at all. But it wasn't like Kakashi would get _mad_ at him for being advanced.

Several minutes later, Kakashi finished giving instructions to Sasuke and Sakura and moved over to where Naruto was standing on top of the grass. The blond managed to take a few shaky steps before his chakra fluctuated and he fell back to the ground.

"Not bad," the Jounin muttered. "Naruto-kun, who taught you these exercises?"

"Friends," Naruto answered with a shrug. "I know a lot of people who are shinobi and they help me some times."

Kakashi grunted in acknowledgment. He was staring out at the foliage, deep in thought. "What...else can you do, Naruto-kun?" he asked.

Again the Genin shrugged, feeling no need to lie to his sensei. "I work with seals," he admitted. "Mainly seal construction. I can create almost any seal you can name; explosion tags, containment seals, chakra-repressing seals, chakra-sensing seals, and...Jutsu seals."

"Jutsu seals?"

Naruto hesitated only for a moment. "Jutsu were originally created not with handseals, but with written seals," he said finally. "I...experiment a lot and have figured out how to recreate handseals with written seals, like they did in the old days. Just channel the right amount of chakra into these seals and boom, instant jutsu. For example, did you know that explosion tags are really just the basics for a fire jutsu and a containment seal combined? I've created a few revised explosion tags that contain shrapnel, making them much, much more deadly. And more useful."

Kakashi's mind worked furiously to process all of this information. Naruto was practically already a seal master, even though he'd never apprenticed under anyone. Or at least he assumed the kid hadn't, from his "experiment" comments.

"Interesting," Kakashi murmured to himself. "Interesting...Still, get back to your exercise for now, Naruto-kun. It'll help your control even more."

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Kakashi treated them all to lunch that day—along with promises that it wouldn't happen again. Coming from any other person the statement would have been rude, but with Kakashi it was almost expected. After the meal, they headed to the Hokage Tower to get their first mission.

The Mission Center was a large wooden room about half way up the tower. Desks covered with files lined two of the walls and numerous shinobi were seated behind them. The room buzzed with noise as various teams and shinobi received their missions. It was obvious, however, that there were no Jounin in the room. They received their missions directly from the Hokage.

Team 7 and their sensei walked up to one of the free desks. A bored looking Chuunin sat there, nibbling on the end of his pen.

"Name and requested mission rank?" the man asked dully.

"Hatake Kakashi. D-rank."

"Right. D-rank, D-rank," he muttered, flipping through some papers. "Here we go. Hyosuke Raito put in a request for some groceries to be picked up..."

Naruto stared on in horror. The next ten minutes seemed to slip by his fingers, with him powerless to stop the passage of time. Grocery shopping. They were going _grocery shopping_. This was what shinobi did?!

The mission continued like a nightmare. They went into the store, were given a list of items they had to get, found the items, and then paid for them. It was the exact same thing Naruto did about once a week or two, when he went grocery shopping for himself. It was boring, pointless, and a complete waste of time. And from the looks on Sasuke and Sakura's faces, they thought so too.

"Why are we doing this, sensei?" Sasuke bit out through gritted teeth. "How the _hell_ is this supposed to help us?"

"Now, now, Sasuke-kun," Kakashi chuckled, "You have to start out with D-rank missions before you move your way up in this shinobi world." The grinding of Sasuke's teeth soon became audible.

"He's right though, sensei," Naruto piped up. "Why are we, as shinobi, given missions to go _grocery_ shopping? Wouldn't our time be better sent doing something more...productive?"

"Ah, but this is quite productive, even if it doesn't seem like it," the Jounin replied with a secretive wink. He stopped and all of the Genin turned to face him. "You see, first off this promotes teamwork, which is very important for shinobi. But also, these missions are practice for higher level missions, minus the danger. Shopping missions like this one, for example, are just like retrieval missions, just as babysitting is just like guarding a client. Just pretend that there's danger all around you and you've got the basics of what any C- or B-rank mission is like."

The Genin stared at him, rather surprised by the older shinobi's line of thinking. It was true, really, when one looked at it that way. This was like training for "real" missions.

They wordlessly decided to never complain about D-ranks again. Even if they _were_ pointless.

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It was another three days before Kakashi finally deemed them all to have good enough chakra control to move on. By this time, Sakura had completely mastered the tree walking exercise and was pretty good with water walking. Sasuke had just begun on water walking. And of course, Naruto was still working on the silent-step technique. He was now able to walk around barefoot with only minimal problems, but doing the exercise with shoes still made him falter.

"Alright," Kakashi said the morning that he announced that they were moving on. "We'll begin working on two things today. One of these is Taijutsu, but the other, the one we're starting with, is elemental chakra."

The silver haired shinobi gestured for them to sit and they all did. Sasuke and Sakura were sitting at the base of the little red bridge that crossed the river that ran through their training ground while Naruto perched on the rail above them. Kakashi plopped rather gracelessly into the grass before them.

"The first thing you need to know," he continued, "Is that there are five basic types of chakra: Fire, wind, water, lightning, and earth. These are the basics of all jutsu and are the reason the five great countries are named as they are. Each of these elements have both a strength and a weakness, such as how fire trumps wind, but is weak against water. Most people naturally lean towards a certain element, which tends to be passed down through family line; members of the Uchiha clan, for example, usually have an affinity for fire-natured chakra.

"As a matter of fact, this is where bloodline limits come from. There are a few rare people who have affinities for two elements and when these elements are combined simultaneously, they create another, secondary element. So, for example, the Shodaime Hokage had an affinity for both earth and water, which allowed him to create **Mokuton** (_Wood Release_) techniques. Theoretically it's possible to combine, say, water and wind for ice or fire and water for steam."

"Or fire and earth for metal," Naruto muttered.

Kakashi blinked in surprise. "Ah, yes," he said. "I suppose that's true, though I've never heard of it being done..."

He trailed off with a thoughtful look similar to the one that Naruto was wearing. Naruto's thoughts, however, were going in a very different direction that the Jounin's: one that involved seals.

"Anyway," Kakashi said as he shook off his thoughts. "These types of chakra are important because they're where jutsu come from. With them you can create new types of jutsu or improve upon those that already exist. In order to do this, you must first master two types of chakra control—which, by the way, are completely different from the exercises you've been doing for the past few days. These techniques are physical and spatial decomposition; basically the forming and discharging of chakra."

Kakashi stood up suddenly and walked over to the nearest tree. He held his hand up so all three of the interested Genin could see it. The Jounin then channeled some chakra in it, causing it to hum with bright electricity that sounded like the chirping of birds.

"This, for example, is my original jutsu called Chidori," the silver haired man explained over the sound. "Because my chakra is lightning-natured, when I physically recompose my chakra to resemble electricity, it comes out like this. Now, when I spatially recompose it..."

He abruptly drove his hand into the wood of the tree while simultaneously discharging the chakra. Instantly, it was as though a lightning-laced bomb had gone off. Kakashi's arm went straight through the tree, chunks of wood flew everywhere, and electricity danced through the air.

The three Genin were left gaping at the aftermath.

"Whoa," Naruto breathed. His eyes were wide with shock and awe. "That was _awesome_!"

The Jounin smiled brightly. "Indeed it is," he agreed. "And I've also got an even more powerful version of that jutsu, which is called Raikiri. But enough of that. Now it's time for you three to find out what _your_ elemental affinity is." He pulled out four slips of paper and handed them to the eager children. "These are chakra cards. They're made from special trees that have been nurtured with chakra their whole lives. Because of this, they respond to even the slightest amount of chakra and can tell you what your affinity is."

Kakashi channeled a small amount of chakra into the one of the cards and immediately it crinkled up.

"For lightning-natured chakra, the cards will crinkle up; for wind, they'll get cut in half; fire, they'll burn; water, they'll get wet; and for earth they'll turn to dust. Go ahead and channel some chakra."

Excitedly the Genin did as they'd been told. Naruto's split in half in his hand and Sakura's crumbled into dust. Sasuke's, however, first crumpled up and then burst into flames

"Well then," Kakashi beamed. "I suppose we know what your affinities are. And Sasuke has two. How interesting."

Sakura squealed and began rapidly telling a smirking Sasuke how cool it must be to have two affinities. Naruto, on the other hand, just eyed the boy thoughtfully.

"What now?" the blond asked, tearing his eyes away from his teammate. "Do we start with the techniques you mentioned, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Yes. Each of you pick up a leaf and channel chakra into it until it cuts, for you Naruto, or crumbles, for you Sakura. Sasuke, you'll begin with fire first, so try to get the leaf to burn. I'll have you move onto lightning later. However, before you all begin, I want you to know that this is a _very_ complex exercise that most likely will take six months for you to complete." He ignored how the Genin gaped openly at him. "You'll work on it a little bit each day—and at home if you'd like, but be careful not to exhaust yourselves. Chakra exhaustion is nasty and deadly."

The Genin stood up and each went out and got a leaf. Once Naruto had found his own, he stared down at it thoughtfully, his mind still in a completely different direction. After a moment, he shook his head as though to clear and rejoined his teammates.

"So how do we do this?" Sakura asked curiously. "Do we just channel chakra into the leaves?"

"Yeah, that's about it. Because your chakra naturally leans towards a certain element, when you physically recompose it, it will take care of the rest," Kakashi replied.

Naruto glanced down at his leaf again and began channeling some chakra into it. Nothing happened, so he channeled more chakra. And more. And more.

An hour later, none of them had gotten anywhere. Naruto knew that Kakashi had said that this would take _six_ freaking_ months_, but that didn't make it any less frustrating. If anything, it just made the task seem that much more daunting.

"How the hell are we supposed to get this to work?" Sakura grumbled under her breath. "Stupid leaf..."

Sasuke grunted in response and his eyes lifted to look at Naruto you. The dark haired boy hesitated for a moment before visibly steeling himself.

"Where did you learn those chakra control exercises that we've been working on?"

The blond looked up, blinking in surprise. "Eh? Oh, I've got a few friends who are shinobi."

Sasuke frowned, but looked down at his leaf and didn't ask anything else. Naruto was left feeling rather confused, but after a moment he just shrugged it off and returned to his own leaf.

"Alright," Kakashi said about an hour later. By then Sakura was exhausted, Sasuke was getting pretty tired, and Naruto hadn't even broken a sweat. Having massive amounts of chakra definitely helped in this case. "Stop for today. We're going to move on to the next order of business: Taijutsu."

To Naruto's surprise, Kakashi then formed two Kage Bunshin. They were wearing the same dark grin that the Jounin had, which sent shivers of dread down the Genin's spines.

"Let's start out with some one-on-one work, ne?"

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A/N: Naruto's past is not the only one that's changed in this story. There are only a few other changes though, and they will become very obvious as the story goes on. The thing with Orochimaru in this chapter was just one example of this—and I'll say nothing more on that subject, except that quite obliviously the Chuunin exams are going to be _very_ different in this story.

Eh, the explanation about elemental affinity was a bit lengthy. That was for those of you who haven't gone that far in the anime/manga. Also, this Naruto has far better chakra control than in canon, which means that he has a lot more chakra, since chakra exercises help to build reserves.

And yes, Gaara thinks that Naruto is a spirit or something. He's never been defeated before, never even been hurt, and then along comes a boy his age who manages to do that within the span of a few minutes. Rather than thinking that it could be someone who's strong—and was lucky enough to be able to find his weakness—his mind instead thinks that there's something supernatural going on. It's certainly not rational, but then, Gaara's _never_ been rational.

Thanks for all your reviews! More info on this story can be found at www(DOT)groups(DOT)yahoo(DOT)com/group/ShadowRebirthFanfiction.

--S.R.


	11. Arc II :: Chapter 10 :: The Program

Title: Failing Twilight  
Author: Shadow Rebirth  
Beta Reader: Rukia23  
Rating: M  
Warnings: Death, blood and gore, coarse language, adult themes, spoilers  
Chapter WC: 4,149  
Total WC: 55,532  
First Written: December 20, 2008  
Last Edited: January 30, 2009  
Posted: January 29, 2009  
Summary: Naruto had learned from a young age that life could get hectic, but all this chaos with Biju, daimyos, and psychotic missing-nin was going a bit too far. Now just throw in a fourth Great Shinobi War and you've got one pissed off seal master. AU story. No pairings.

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Failing Twilight

Chapter 10_  
The Program_

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Team 7 had been working together for almost a month when they finally received their first C-rank mission. It was both less and more than they'd expected it to be.

"Well? Well?" Naruto asked Kakashi excitedly. "What's the mission? What do we have to do? Do we finally get to travel outside the Village?"

"No, it's within the Village," Kakashi said, still smiling his signature grin. His amusement only grew stronger when the Genin's faces dropped. "But don't worry; it's actually a rather prestigious mission. Shijimi, the Fire Daimyo's wife, has been in Konoha for the last week and unfortunately her pet, Neko, got loose. It's our job to find and retrieve Neko."

Sakura's eyebrow began twitching. "Are you telling us that that we're going to go find some _cat_?! This mission is only C-rank because the cat belonged to the Fire Daimyo's wife!"

Kakashi's grin grew a little bit more. "Not quite, Sakura. I said that the pet's _name_ was Neko, not that it _was_ a cat."

Naruto's face suddenly grew pale as a piece of information he'd picked up came to the forefront of his mind. "Uh, Kakashi-sensei," he gulped. "Doesn't the Fire Daimyo's wife have a pet tiger?"

"She definitely does," the Jounin replied, looking entirely too cheerful.

"We have to catch a _tiger_?" Sasuke said incredulously.

Team 7 exchanged wary glances. This wasn't going to end well; Naruto could feel it in their bones.

"Come," Kakashi beckoned. "We're going to head over to the forest where Neko was last seen."

As the team began to make their way towards the starting point, Naruto wasn't sure how he should feel. Annoyed? Excited? It _was_ their first C-class after all and at least going after a tiger was better than going after a cat. But...Shouldn't there be handlers who took care of this? After all, _killing_ a tiger was one thing, but _capturing_ one was an entirely different story.

"Alright, let's get started," Kakashi said once they'd reached the head of the trail where Neko had last been seen. He was serious once more. "What should the plan be?"

Naruto repressed a sigh. Kakashi did this with them every time they went on a mission, no matter how simple it was. He had to admit that it was good training though; they had to come up with a plan on their own, just as they would have to while on a higher ranking mission outside of Konoha.

Sakura was the first one to speak up. "Naruto can have his Kage Bunshin scour the forest," she said.

The blonde nodded his agreement. "Finding Neko shouldn't be a problem. But how will we capture her?" Sasuke opened his mouth to reply, but Naruto cut him off with a wide grin. "I mean _without_ roasting her."

The Uchiha sent him a scowl. "I was _going_ to say that we have no choice but to knock her out," he growled. "We'll have to get close to the tiger in order to do that, so we need a distraction."

Tapping his chin thoughtfully, Naruto considered their options. He could make distractions easily enough, but he doubted that anything he did would distract Neko long enough for his teammates to knock her unconscious.

"Meat," he muttered to himself. "Domesticated as it is, the tiger's probably hungry, so it'd go after meat..."

"Good thinking, Naruto," Kakashi commented. "Getting inside the mind of your enemy is always the first step."

Sakura nodded in agreement. "We can use the meat to lure Neko into a trap," she said eagerly. "Then we can knock her out!"

Sasuke nodded resolutely in agreement. "Naruto," he said. "Send out your clones to search the forest and one or two to get some meat from the Village."

"No problem!" the blue eyed boy agreed with a smile. An instant later four dozen Kage Bunshin had been created and were roaming around. "Let's get started!"

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"Everyone in position?" Kakashi's voice crackled in Naruto's ear. The blonde adjusted the volume of the headset a little bit. He was hiding in a tree about ten feet from Neko, their target, and certainly didn't want the tiger to hear.

"Five meters SW," came Sakura reply. Sasuke's position soon followed hers.

Naruto took that as his signal. "Alright," the blonde said, "I'm moving in."

Without waiting for a reply, Naruto dropped down in front of Neko. The massive—seriously! Naruto knew he wasn't that tall, but she came up to his _shoulder_!—orange tiger froze, looking as though she might flee. Then both her eyes and her nose caught sight of the hunk of steak in Naruto's hand and she moved into a crouch position instead.

Naruto repressed the urge to gulp and began slowly backing away. Correct to their assumption, Neko hadn't had anything to eat for hours and hours. And since as domesticated a tiger she was, she was used to eating regularly, and was _very_ hungry. Naruto knew that he could easily Kawarimi away if it came down to that, but that didn't make this situation any less daunting.

As if reading his thoughts, Neko chose that moment to lunge at him. Naruto turned on his heel and ran, using chakra to ensure that Neko wouldn't be able to catch up to him. Thus started a long chase through the woods with the blonde's heart pounding faster than it ever had; he' d been in some pretty bad situations before, but there's nothing quite like being chased by a hungry, four hundred pound tiger.

After only a minute or so, Naruto caught sight of a precipice ahead and breathed out a silent sigh of relief. They'd planned to lead the tiger here because the cliff wasn't that big—it was only a twenty feet drop that'd most likely been created by a shinobi—but it was tall enough to make Neko stop. Naruto would go over the edge, thus getting himself to safety, while Neko would stop. She'd then be trapped and, while distracted by the meat in Naruto's hands, would be easily tied up and knocked out by Sasuke and Sakura.

Reaching the edge of the precipice, Naruto leaped down while simultaneously channeling chakra to his feet so that he'd stick to the rock. He ran down about five feet before stopping and glancing back up to make sure that the tiger had followed him all the way to the edge.

Then his eyes widened in shock.

Neko had indeed followed him all the way. _All_ the way. Just like him, she hadn't stopped at the edge and instead had jumped after Naruto.

_Shit_.

Naruto's astounded eyes watched as Neko sailed over his head and began to plummet down towards the earth. That wasn't good. That was bad, bad, _bad_. Just how would the Fire daimyo's wife react to finding out that they'd _killed_ her pet, even if by accident.

And so of course, Naruto did the only thing he could: He left go of the cliff face and jumped after Neko. Thanks to his chakra enhanced leap, he caught up to the tiger after only a moment. He swiftly wrapped his arms around her while channeling more chakra into his arms so that he wouldn't let go. Simultaneously he activated the Kage Bunshin seal on his back, creating a dozen clones that created a chain.

While the clone on one end of the chain grabbed onto the cliff face with chakra, the one on the other end grabbed the real Naruto's ankles. Naruto and Neko were rather painfully jerked to a stop, less than five feet from the ground. The blond haired Genin breathed out a sigh of deep relief. With a series of pops he released all of the Kage Bunshin and dropped heavily to the ground.

Naruto lay still for a heartbeat before pushing himself off the ground with a groan. He began muttering under his breath about conveniently placed cliffs when a low growl next to him interrupted him. The Genin froze and slowly turned his head to look at Neko.

The massive tiger was sitting next to him, crouched low to the ground. All of her muscles were tensed, like a coil ready to spring. She leapt suddenly and Naruto reached up to throw her off— Only to get a face full of wet tongue and hot tiger breath.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Naruto cried out. He channeled some chakra into his muscles in order to keep form crumpling as Neko, who was a fair bit larger than him, both mass and height wise, placed all of her weight onto her paws on Naruto's shoulders as she continued licking his face. "Alright, alright! Enough already."

"Naruto!" Sakura called down from the top of the cliff. Naruto looked up and saw that his team was peering down over the edge at him.

"'Mm fine," the blond called up. With a grunt he finally managed to push Neko off. "Neko too."

Kakashi leapt off the cliff and smoothly landed in a crouch before Naruto. The Genin coughed once while waving a hand through the air to clear the small amount of dust that was stirred up in the air at the impact.

At the same time, Neko stepped forward, her lips pulled back into a ferocious snarl. Sweatdropping, Kakashi stepped back as well. He held his hands up, as though the defensive gesture would ward the angry tiger off.

"Oi, Naruto-kun, call off your pet."

Naruto blinked in surprise at that development—though in hindsight it wasn't _that_ surprising, considering how she'd been licking his face like a puppy just moments before—but his face quickly split into a smirk. "I dunno sensei, why should I? What's in it for me?"

"_Narut_—"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm on it," Naruto replied with a roll of his eyes. He reached down and began scratching Neko behind the ears. The domesticated tiger was instantly distracted by the sensation. She sat back on her haunches and nuzzled her head into Naruto's hand, almost knocking the boy off his feet. He half expected her to start purring like a house cat, but she didn't.

"Way to follow the plan, Uzumaki," Sasuke snorted as he and Sakura joined them at the bottom of the cliff.

The blond twitched with annoyance. "Yeah, because that was _so_ my fault, _Uchiha_," he snapped. "Tell me, why didn't _you_ stop her before she went over the edge?"

"Now, now children," Kakashi interrupted with a bright smile, "No fighting. We need to get Neko back to the daimyo's wife, ne?"

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Returning Neko to Shijimi, the Fire Daimyo's wife, was a little more difficult than anticipated, if only because the tiger didn't want to leave Naruto. The Genin was a little confused at Neko's abrupt turnaround from animosity to loyalty, but he supposed that saving her life accounted for it. She _did_ seem a bit more intelligent than average to him.

When all was said and done Shijimi was rather enthusiastically grateful for Neko's return, up to the point that she even demanded that Naruto visit Neko again some time. Though Naruto had no intention whatsoever of doing so, he thanked her several times until her attendants finally ushered them away.

Kakashi gave them the rest of the afternoon off as a reward for completing their first C-rank mission. Naruto wandered away from the Hokage Tower, too tired to even care that he'd done most of the work while his teammates had sat back and watched—even if unintentionally. Before long he wound up at one of the few places other than the training grounds that he went when he had free time: The Intelligence Headquarters.

"Oi, Ibiki-sempai!" Naruto called as he stuck his head into his superior's office. "Do you—"

"Go _away_ Naruto."

The boy deftly dodged a stapler thrown in his direction. "Kami," he said with a scowl, "What's got _your_ boxers all twisted up?"

Ibiki glanced up to scowl darkly at Naruto. "Do I _look_ like I'm in the mood, brat?" he snapped.

Naruto paused to honestly consider the question. Ibiki had dark bags under his eyes, as though he hadn't been getting much sleep lately. In fact...now that he really thought about it, Ibiki had been acting strangely recently. He always looked tired and worn out like this, as though he was doing exponentially more work.

The most telling sign that something was off, however, was that Naruto had had a lot less paperwork recently. This could only mean that Ibiki was doing more paperwork and the only reason he would _ever_ do such a thing was if the paperwork was ranked beyond Naruto's security clearance. Just what was going on?

He left Ibiki's office without another word.

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Only a few days later Ibiki personally called Naruto into his office. The boy was surprised to find Ibiki in much a much more pleasant mood—well, as pleasant as Ibiki could be—than before. He wasn't sure whether or not he should take that as a good thing or not though. After all, a happy Ibiki was often a sadistic Ibiki.

"Congratulations, Naruto," were the first words out of Ibiki's grinning mouth.

The Genin instantly blanched. Ibiki _never_ used his name unless severely pissed off or in a particularly vicious mood; usually he always called him "kid" or "brat". There was no way that this could be good. Naruto hovered around near the door, ready to bolt if necessary.

"Uh, thanks," the blond managed to say. "But...for what?"

Ibiki's smile widened further. "For your seal idea. The Development Department over at the ANBU division has been working recently to create a tracking seal based on your improved idea of the tracking chip. Just yesterday they finally finished the prototype. The whole department's been in an uproar about it; it completely revolutionizes tracking as we know it."

"I—...What?"

The Jounin chuckled. "This single new seal will make it almost impossible for missing-nin to escape," he said. "The Hunter-nin department will probably be knocking on your door soon, calling you their new god. The seal also will make retrieval of captured shinobi infinitely easier and will allow us to better monitor who enters and exits the Village—something which the ANBU will infinitely thank you for. There's never been a way to keep track of all of our shinobi like this before. Once the seal has been given to all of our shinobi, the Village's security will be unrivaled among the shinobi nations."

Naruto shifted awkwardly. "But...I mean, I didn't actually create the seal or anything," he pointed out.

"But you still came up with the idea," Ibiki countered. "And besides which, you probably could have created it had you given it the time. But that doesn't matter. What _does_ is that the seal has been created and Konoha is much better off now because of it."

"..._This_ is what you're so happy about? About something that _I_ did?"

Ibiki's grin transformed into a scowl. "Don't go getting a big head, brat," he snapped. Naruto relaxed imperceptibly. Ah, now _there_ was the Ibiki he knew. "The only reason I'm happy is because this seal makes my work a lot easier—because traitors will be easy to track and catch—not because of what _you_ did. I congratulated you on the seal, but _nothing_ else."

"...Right."

All of a sudden Ibiki's smirk was back in full force. "Speaking of which," the older man began, "Because this seal will track all Konoha-nin, it falls under Intelligence jurisdiction. And since it was your idea, you're going to be the director of the program.

"Whoa, whoa, _whoa_!" Naruto protested. "_What_? You want me to keep track of all the shinobi in Konoha?! Why?! I already have a ton of _your_ paperwork to take care of as it is!"

"You've got Kage Bunshin."

"That's not the point! You're just doing this to shift more of your work onto me, aren't you, you lazy ass bastard?!"

Suddenly there was a dangerously glinting kunai in Ibiki's hands and the Head of Intelligence's grin was twice as wide as it'd been before. "Repeat that. I dare you."

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The next two weeks were rather eventful for Naruto, needless to say. It was slow going at first, but before long the final project of the tracking seal had been completed and tested and the Tracker Program was fully set up. All Jounin were now sporting the seal—hidden beneath a layer of grafted skin—on the backs of their necks and groups of Chuunin were called in everyday to be given the seal. It wouldn't be long before every shinobi in Konoha was accounted for.

Unfortunately for Naruto, the command center for the Tracker Program had been set up in the ID base beneath the Intelligence Headquarters because of the sensitivity of the program. After all, they couldn't very well allow an enemy shinobi to get their hands of it.

While Naruto completely understood the reasons for the placement of the command center, that didn't mean that it didn't piss him off to have to go up and down the security chute with _Ibiki_ all the time. Fortunately, however, he constantly had at least half a dozen Kage Bunshin manning the Tracker command center so he didn't have to go personally very often.

There was also one little detail that Ibiki had forgotten to mention when first telling Naruto about his new duties: He had four subdominants, all of whom were at least Chuunin-level or higher shinobi.

It had to be one of the most awkward situations Naruto had ever been in. He was used to having superiors, used to having teammates, and used to having associates. To suddenly have a group of shinobi who answered to _him_ made his head reel. He hadn't expected to have such responsibilities for a few years yet.

"You okay, Naruto?" Sakura asked, pulling the boy from his thoughts. "You look really tired."

"Eh? Oh, I'm fine, Sakura," Naruto answered. He repressed a yawn as he lifted his head to look at her from where he'd been lying on the ground. "Just tired, like you said."

Sakura frowned. "You've been working too hard recently, haven't you?" she demanded. "You should lighten up on your training before you hurt yourself."

Naruto smiled tiredly. "I'll be fine, Sakura—_really._ Don't worry about it. I just need to get some more sleep..."

The pink haired girl didn't look convinced, but didn't press the issue any further either. Fortunately, the two were saved from the ensuing uncomfortable silence by Kakashi's arrival.

"Yo!" the Jounin greeted them cheerfully. "Sorry if I'm late, but something important came up. Something that involves you three, as a matter of fact. Follow me."

Without another word, Kakashi turned on his heel and began to walk out of the training ground. Team 7 shared a confused glance before walking after him.

A half an hour later Naruto nearly groaned when he realized that they were just going to get the tracking seals. They were led into a small room in the Hokage Tower, where a seal master by the name of Naeko was waiting for them. Naruto repressed a grin at the sight of the tiny, silver haired woman; Naeko was one of his subordinates, and the most interesting one, to be sure.

"Come, come!" Naeko exclaimed, ushering the three Genin into the room. "Take a seat, all of you."

"Um, Ma'am—" Sakura said as she hesitantly sat down.

"Call me Naeko-chan!"

"...Uh, right. Well...Naeko-chan...Why are we here? Kakashi sensei just mentioned something about a mandatory seal...?"

"Figures," Naeko snorted. She rocked back and forth on her heels as she stood before the wooden bench Team 7 was on. "Lazy jackass. Anyway!" She abruptly clapped her hands together loudly, startling Sasuke and Sakura. Naruto just rolled his eyes. "The reason you're here is because we're calling all shinobi in one by one to give ya a special tracker seal—more commonly known as a 'Whirlpool Tracker'."

Naruto openly gaped at Naeko. Oh _hell_ no! They were _not_ naming it after him!

Seeing his expression, Naeko covertly winked at him before rushing on with her explanation. "This seal allows us to track you wherever you go," she explained, "Which is especially useful in the situation that you are kidnapped or turn traitor, but is mostly just used in monitoring which shinobi enter and exit Konoha." Naeko gestured vaguely towards the door on the other side of the small room. "You'll be called in one at a time to have to procedure done. It shouldn't take more than a half an hour per person and you can leave when you're done. First up, _you_!"

Of course, Naeko's finger was pointing directly at Naruto. The blond Genin sighed, but obediently stood and sauntered into the second room.

"Hi hi, Naruto-sempai!" Naeko greeted, beaming, once the door had shut behind them.

"Naeko," Naruto replied evenly. He glanced over the new room, his sharp gaze quickly taking in the equipment there. Eventually his gaze fell on a wide-bottomed jar of ink. "Is that the—"

"Don't touch it!" Naeko all but screamed. Naruto flinched, but had no reaction other than that; he was well used to the woman's...eccentricity...by now.

"...Right."

In the blink of an eye, Naeko's scowl was gone, replaced with a bright smile. "Have a seat, Naruto-sempai, and we'll get started!"

The boy took a seat while warily eyeing Naeko. There was only one thought in his mind: _'Damn psychopath_.'

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Meanwhile, within the Tracker Program command center in the Intelligence Headquarters' ID base one of Naruto's clones was laughing its ass off.

"Kami!" the clone gasped. "This is priceless!"

"What are you doing, Naruto-sempai?" a nearby dark haired man asked.

A second nearby clone glanced up from its work at the name, but quickly disregarded the conversation when it saw that that the man was addressing someone else. The first clone clamped down on its glee and turned to face its subordinate.

"Priceless! Absolutely priceless!" Naruto repeated.

At the man's confused expression, Naruto made a sweeping gesture at the wall before them. The entire space was covered by a specially designed paper—derived from chakra paper, as a matter of fact. It was an enlarged, highly detailed map of Konohagakure. All across it were small dot that were labeled with names. The special thing about this map was that the dots moved, signaling the exact position of any person with a Whirlpool Tracker at any given time.

The map worked because there the Whirlpool Tracker seals were constantly sending chakra signals back between the map and seal. It was like echolocation in a way, Naruto thought, but much more...digital. Minus any technology.

On numerous other walls in the command center were other maps just like the one of Konoha. One was of all the shinobi nations, some were of individual nations, several were of individual cities, etc. Only about half of the maps had been completed, but within another few weeks the Tracker Program would be completely set up.

"What's priceless?" the shinobi asked, bemused.

"Look! Look!" Naruto shouted gleefully. He jabbed his finger at a point on the map. "There are ten dots labeled Uzumaki Naruto!"

"Uh—"

"I—the original Naruto, that is—just got the seal a half an hour ago. He just created some Kage Bunshin and _they're showing up on the map_. Do you have any idea what this means?!"

"Well—"

"I'll tell you what it means!" Naruto plowed on. "It means that whenever I create a clone, that clone has a perfectly functioning tracker seal! This means that I can never be accurately tracked since I always have at least a few dozen clones formed! The only reason that only nine clones are showing up is because the rest of us were created before the application of the seal."

"...Isn't that a bad thing?" the man asked.

"Nope!" the blond said brightly. "It's just the sort of failsafe we've been looking for. If—Kami forbid—an enemy nation were able to somehow, through some miracle, get their hands on these maps, then I'll be in the only shinobi in Konoha who they won't be able to track accurately. And that is a _very_ good thing."

Naruto began pacing back and forth, mumbling under his breath as plan after plan formulated in his mind. The other man sweatdropped, both amused and a little intimidated.

"I need to work more on my clones," Naruto muttered. "I need to develop a seal to give them more resilience. Perhaps something that helps to conserve their chakra? Or draw chakra from a different source? Maybe a revised chakra storing seal...?"

"You yourself are a clone," the man pointed out.

The boy smiled brightly in reply. "True. But that doesn't mean that I'm not still Naruto."

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Kage Bunshin – Shadow Clones  
ID base – Interrogation and Detention Base  
Konohagakure – Hidden Leaf Village/Village Hidden Among the Leaves

A/N: Eh, this one was a bit of a transition chapter more than anything else, though the whole Tracker Program thing was important. More action starts in the next chapter. And yes, the Tracker Program's maps work a lot like the Marauder's Map, but with some differences that will become apparent. Uzumaki means whirlpool, hence the "Whirlpool Tracker" thing.

About the whole Tora/Neko thing: Tora means tiger and Neko means cat. Since in canon Tora was a cat, I decided to switch things around and change it to a tiger named Neko. The whole switch with the pet type happened mostly for my own amusement, but also because it seems more likely to me for a _daimyo's_ wife to have a pet tiger rather than a cat.

A couple of people complained about how there's no rivalry between Naruto and Sasuke. I _know_ this. It's because at this time there's no _reason_ for there to be a rivalry. There will certainly be some problems between them down the road, but it'll have to build up into a problem first. Keep in mind that in this story Naruto has a very different relationship with his team than in canon; Sasuke and Sakura don't think of him as a moron or a "dead last", nor even know much about him at all. And they certainly don't hold much animosity towards him.

The majority of you seem to want to me to give Ibiki more screen time. Am I correct in this assumption?

Thanks for all your reviews! More info on this story can be found at www(DOT)groups(DOT)yahoo(DOT)com/group/ShadowRebirthFanfiction. This includes a few comics that I did for the story when I was procrastinating...

--S.R.

_"It's when we allow others to think for us that the whole world suffers." - Anonymous_


	12. Arc II :: Chapter 11 :: The Hermit

Title: Failing Twilight  
Author: Shadow Rebirth  
Beta Reader: Rukia23  
Rating: T  
Warnings: Death, blood and gore, coarse language, adult themes, spoilers  
Chapter WC: 4,367  
Total WC: 59,898  
First Written: January 29, 2009  
Last Edited: February 19, 2009  
Posted: February 19, 2009  
Summary: Naruto had learnt from a young age that life could get hectic, but all this chaos with Biju, daimyos, and psychotic missing-nin was going a bit too far. Now just throw in a fourth Great Shinobi War and you've got one pissed off seal master. AU story. No pairings.

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Failing Twilight

Chapter 11_  
The Hermit_

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Naruto scribbled away furiously, muttering to himself every few seconds. He paused only once or twice as his thoughts began to run away with him, but every time, he quickly dove back into his work. He was so close to a breakthrough, he could taste it. It wouldn't be long now before he completed his reverse summon seal.

After hours of work, Naruto finally set his pen down for a moment. He stretched his arms above his head to work some of the kinks out of his back and yawned a greeting to Naeko as she passed by. Feeling a bit more relaxed, he moved to pick his pen back up, only to find it missing.

He halted for a second, staring at the spot on his desk where it'd been just seconds before.

"...Dammit, Naeko!" he suddenly burst out.

The blond whirled around to face her, an annoyed snarl on his face. The kunoichi froze before slowly looking back, a sheepish smile on her face. Naruto thrust his hand out, wordlessly demanding the return of his pen.

"Sorry, Naruto-sempai," Naeko murmured while grinning. She handed him back his pen and then zipped out of the room faster than he could blink.

Naruto groaned and slumped back into his chair. It had only taken him a few days after first meeting Naeko to figure out that she was a kleptomaniac: She had the irrational urge to steal anything and everything within her sight. As a shinobi, this was both a good and a bad thing for her. It was good because it allowed her to steal things without anyone, even seasoned shinobi, being the wiser. It could be disastrous, however, because it could draw undue attention to her on an important mission.

Which was probably why she'd been assigned to his team, tucked safely away in the ID base.

Suddenly, Naruto realized he could hear snickering originating from the other side of the room. Scowling, he shot a glare in the direction of Kotetsu, who was struggling—and failing—to hide his amusement. Once he saw that he'd been caught, the Chuunin burst out into laughter.

"Oh, come on, Naruto-kun," Kotetsu said through his laughter. "You've _had_ to have gotten used to her...oddities by now."

"Just because I've gotten used to them doesn't mean I have to _like_ them," Naruto grumbled, which only sent Kotetsu into another peal of laughter.

Naruto had been shocked all those weeks ago when Ibiki had first added Kotetsu to his team. He'd known that the Chuunin was working in the Intelligence Headquarters, of course, but he'd never expected to end up being his _boss_, of all things. It was decidedly odd to be able to order around one of the people who had helped to train him as he grew up.

Now if only he could order Ibiki around, his life would be complete. The very thought of it made a wide grin spread over Naruto's face.

"I don't think I want to know what's got you two in such a good mood," a dry voice spoke.

Naruto glanced up and saw a man with long brown hair walking toward them. "Good morning, Hitoshi," he greeted. "Back from your last mission?"

The third member of Naruto's team nodded with a smile. "Yes, I got back last night. I probably won't get another one for a while now, Naruto-sempai," he replied. "Oh, by the way, Ibiki-sempai is waiting at the chute; he wants to speak to you. It sounded rather...urgent."

"_Everything_ is urgent to him," the Genin responded with a snort. Despite his words, he instantly stood up and began to put his papers away. "I'll see you two later, ne?"

"But we'll see you for the rest of the day," Kotetsu threw in, "Because you've always got these damn clones running around!"

Laughing, even as Hitoshi rolled his eyes and sighed exasperatedly, Naruto waved over his shoulder and strode out of the command center. Just as Hitoshi had said, Ibiki was standing near the elevator chute. The older man cut off the conversation he'd been having with another shinobi as the boy approached.

"Che, took you long enough to get here, brat."

Naruto twitched. "What is it, Ibiki-sempai? Why the hell do you need to see me personally? There are a few of my clones upstairs in my office."

Ibiki waved off the question but didn't bother to reply. Instead he stepped into the elevator chute, wordlessly instructing Naruto to do the same. Even once the Genin had, he didn't speak up and every question directed at him was met with stony silence. Naruto got the hint quickly enough and spent the rest of the trip to Ibiki's office glaring at the floor.

Almost as soon as they stepped into Ibiki's office, the Jounin plopped into his chair, leaving Naruto standing before the desk. Ibiki leaned back in his office chair and smirked at the blonde's stony expression. He picked a scroll up off his desk and tossed it to Naruto.

"I need you to take that to one of Konoha's guard outposts once you're out of the village," the Jounin told him.

"Uh, Ibiki?" Naruto began, his previous annoyance forgotten. "I'm not going out of the village. I'm a Genin now, remember? If I just left like that—or even just sent a clone—it could be considered a traitorous action. And I can't ask for leave or anything because I'm training with my team."

Ibiki casually waved off Naruto's words. "You'll be leaving the village today," he said confidently. "Your team is getting a C-rank mission out of the village."

"Eh?!" _That_ certainly hadn't been what Naruto was expecting. "What the fuck do you mean?! Please don't tell me you're making the Hokage give my team a C-rank just because you want me to do errands!"

"I can't _make_ the Hokage do anything," Ibiki replied with a roll of his eyes. "I may be the Head of Intelligence, but I'm most certainly still his subordinate. And besides, it was _your_ sensei who requested that you guys get a C-rank. I'm just milking the situation as much as I can."

Naruto sighed and slipped the scroll away in one of his pockets. Ibiki had had him do this so many times before that it was almost routine by now.

"Fine," he muttered. "Anything else?"

"No," Ibiki said smugly. "Get out of here brat; go pack for your mission."

The Genin did so, without a word of protest for once. His mind was too preoccupied on the upcoming mission and the prospect of getting out of the village once more. After a moment, he created a Kage Bunshin to go home and pack before using Shunshin to leave the Intelligence Headquarters.

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"Today we've got another C-rank mission."

And, naturally, Ibiki had been right.

Naruto sighed as he stood in the middle of a training ground with Team 7. It wasn't that he wasn't looking forward to getting out of the village—far from it—but he'd been feeling worn down recently. Perhaps Sakura was right; maybe he _was_ working too hard. But...It didn't matter. He was still just a Genin. He couldn't slack off yet.

"This will be our first mission out of the village," Kakashi continued, unaware of Naruto's mood.

"Finally," Sasuke grunted with a smirk. Next to him, Sakura shifted uncomfortably. She looked torn between delight and unease.

Kakashi only smiled. "The mission is a simple one and is only ranked as it is because of the distances involved," he said, cheerfully bringing down everyone's excitement. "We are to bring a letter to an old hermit who lives on Mt. Takatsuma, which is south of Konohagakure. His daughter, our client, is a civilian here in Konoha."

"That's all?" Sasuke demanded. "We're just acting as _messengers_?"

"I gotta agree, that this is pretty lame, sensei," Naruto agreed. "There's not even a threat of bandits!"

Still smiling, Kakashi waved the Genin away. "Go pack," he told them dismissively. "Meet me at the gates in a half an hour and we'll get going. The mission should only take around two or three days, tops."

Sasuke and Sakura left almost immediately to get ready for the mission. Naruto and Kakashi were left standing in silence in the middle of the clearing.

"...Naruto, aren't you forgetting something?"

The blond shrugged. "No. I'm already packed," he replied casually.

Kakashi stuffed his hands in his pockets and leaned back, looking aloof. "Ah, Morino mentioned something, I assume?"

Naruto gave his sensei a sharp look. "You knew?"

Kakashi's smile, hidden though it was, was more than enough of a reply. "I used to be in ANBU," the Jounin commented casually. "I still keep in contact with some of my old comrades."

"Ah." Well that explained a lot—including why so much of Kakashi's records were off-limits, even to Naruto. "So, shall we head to gates then?"

"Eh," Kakashi shrugged, "Why not. We've got nothing better to do at this point."

"Yeah...Hey, sensei, you don't think there's going to be anything...off...about this mission, do you?"

"What, like bandits attacking out of no where?" Kakashi asked with a chuckle. "No, I'm sure we'll be just fine. It's only a C-rank mission after all. What could go wrong?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Don't jinx us, Kakashi-sensei."

Within the next half an hour, Team 7 had gathered before the gates of Konoha. Sasuke and Sakura were both sporting packs, but Naruto had everything he could need sealed away in scrolls. Kakashi looked the same as ever, which meant that he most likely was using sealing scrolls as well. After checking in with the Chuunin guarding the gates—Naruto used his real village pass for this first time, which was both an amusing and novel experience—they set out.

For the first hour of the journey, everyone was silent. Sasuke and Sakura were unused to leaping from tree branch to tree branch at the pace that they were moving at and, as such, had most of their concentration on their feet. Naruto was abnormally quiet because he wasn't used to traveling with other people. Or at least not with shinobi—civilians, merchants and samurai alike, he traveled with all the time. Plus, the knowledge that this was his first mission out of the village made him unusually serious.

Kakashi was just reading a book that Naruto was pretty sure was porn.

Sakura eventually tried to strike a conversation up with Sasuke. He ignored her though and before long she fell silent. The pink haired girl moved on to Naruto, but the conversation was awkward and didn't take very long to fall flat.

As an awkward, tense atmosphere fell over the Genin, Naruto suddenly realized that he had almost next to nothing in common with his teammates. Or at least nothing that he knew about, and, admittedly, he knew barely anything about either of them. Hell, he didn't even know if Sakura came from a civilian or shinobi family! His instincts told him civilian, but he could very well be wrong.

When the silence got a little too uncomfortable, Naruto fell in step with Kakashi and began to softly ask the man about his days in ANBU, since that was at least something that he understood a little bit about. Fortunately, Kakashi was more than willing to share anything that wasn't classified and they quickly fell into a casual discussion.

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Sasuke would be the first person to admit that he wasn't very social, but even to him Team 7's dynamics were awkward. The tense atmosphere surrounding them as they made their way towards their destination was more than proof of this.

Or at least it had been until Naruto and Kakashi had started a conversation about Kakashi's old missions. Sasuke was admittedly intrigued, not just by the topic, but by how easily the two interacted, despite the wide gap in their ages.

When he really thought about it, Sasuke realized that he knew nothing about Naruto, even though they'd been on the same team for two months now. He knew that he was an orphan and that he traveled around a lot. He also knew that Naruto had received advanced shinobi training, but the blond never explained how, from whom, or—most importantly—_why_.

Sasuke's hands clenched tightly at his sides. It just wasn't fair, in his mind. He'd been training for years and years in order to catch up with his brother, but no matter what he did it felt like it just wasn't enough. Every step he took fell short, every jutsu he learned wasn't powerful enough, and every person he fought turned out to be stronger than him. He'd worked so _hard_, but it just wasn't enough.

And then along came Naruto, a slacker who rarely even attended school, who _never_ seemed to try. And he surpassed Sasuke so casually, like it was the easiest thing in the world. It was enough to make Sasuke's blood boil.

At this rate, he'd never be able to kill Itachi.

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By sunset, Team 7 had reached a large town called Hajime. It was mostly a farming town, though a minor lord lived in the area so there were quite a few shops and hotels.

"We'll stay here for the night," Kakashi told his team. "If we leave first thing in the morning we should be able to reach our target by noon tomorrow. So, we need to find a hotel—"

"No need, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto interrupted cheerily. "I have a friend who lives here who should be able to give us board for the night, no problem."

Kakashi gave Naruto a calculating look for a moment before shrugging nonchalantly. "That's fine, Naruto-kun. It'll save us money at the very least," he said. "Please, lead the way."

With a nod, Naruto did so. He wound his way into the village, recalling the times he'd been here before. The man that he knew owned a large store, which was how Naruto had met him in the first place: They'd been introduced by a merchant. Naruto had spent the night at his house several times before and had no doubt that the man would help them.

Eventually, Naruto came to a stop in front of a two story store. He raised a hand to knock on the closed door, only to abruptly freeze as he realized something: His friend had never met him as Uzumaki Naruto, but rather as brown haired, golden eyed Nanashi Yuurei.

Slowly, Naruto turned around to face his team. "Er, there's just one thing before we go in," he said sheepishly. At their puzzled expression he quickly formed a Kage Bunshin and layered a Henge over it, to give it the appearance of Yuurei. "This is...Our forth teammate."

"Any particular reason why we've just gained another Genin?" Kakashi asked dryly.

"Well this is sort of how Daisuke, my friend, knows me. It's a long story..."

"One of which you'll have to share sometime, hmm?" Kakashi sighed. "Well, lead the way, Naruto. I'm hungry."

Naruto rolled his eyes and turned back to the door. While "Yuurei" knocked, the blonde surreptitiously created another couple of Kage Bunshin, which were also under Henge. If Yuurei ever got dispelled, one of these clones would instantly switch with him. After all, it wouldn't do to have their "teammate" suddenly disappear.

Almost as soon as Yuurei had knocked on the store's door a shout came from within. "We're closed! Come back tomorrow morning!" Yuurei continued to knock. More grumbling came from within the shop before the door finally opened, revealing a middle-aged man with dark hair and a bead. "Didn't you hear me? We're— ...Yuurei-kun?"

The clone smiled. "Hey Daisuke," he said cheerfully. "Long time no see?"

For a moment Daisuke just gaped at him. Then, suddenly, he began laughing. "Yuurei-kun!" he repeated. "Well I'll be damned, it is you! Long time is right; it's been almost two years since you last stopped by. How've you been? How's Haru, for that matter?"

"Fine, fine," Yuurei replied, chuckling at the mention of the bartender. "I'm a Genin now; an official shinobi. This is my team."

Daisuke lifted his eyes to the rest of the group and smiled warmly. "Any friend of Yuurei's is a friend of mine. Please, come in!"

Daisuke took them all to the stairs at the back of the store and up to the second story, which was where his home was located. It was bright and cheery upstairs and the group could hear the sounds of conversation coming from the kitchen.

"So," Daisuke said once he'd seated them all in the living room, "What brings you and your team here, Yuurei-kun?"

"We're on a mission; heading over to Mt. Takatsuma, actually," Yuurei replied. "I don't mean to impose, but we need board for the night and I was wondering—"

"Of course you can stay here for the night!" Daisuke instantly said, smiling broadly. "I don't mind helping out in the slightest and my wife and daughter will be delighted to entertain guests. Plus, I owe you for getting my merchandise back after the incident that you helped me out with when I last saw you." He hesitated suddenly. "...You're going to Mt. Takatsuma, you say? Be careful up there, Yuurei-kun; there have been rumors of bandits in the area recently."

Yuurei frowned and Naruto swiftly exchanged glances with Kakashi. "Bandits?" the clone questioned. "Really? Thanks for the warning, Daisuke."

The older man smiled again, though this time it was tempered. "No problem," he said and then his eyes strayed back to the rest of the shinobi. "In the mean time, let me introduce you to my family!"

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That night, once everyone was asleep, Naruto created another Kage Bunshin and sent it out of the town. Tucked safely away in the clone's pocket was the scroll that Ibiki had given Naruto that morning.

It took Naruto over three hours to reach the guard outpost near the border between Fire Country and River Country. It was a rather unassuming wooden building built right alongside a major road. There was a shinobi stationed outside, leaning against the wall and flipping through _Icha Icha Paradise_.

Naruto twitched at the sight. What was it with shinobi and being openly perverted? At least Kakashi usually put the book away when he was training them.

"Hey," Naruto greeted, causing the shinobi to look up sharply. The blond flashed his scroll briefly. "I've got a delivery."

The older man nodded seriously and led the way into the building. Naruto took a seat on the nearest bench immediately, knowing that he would have to wait while the guard went to get his superior; it was standard procedure. Only a few minutes later the guard returned with a Jounin.

"Well?" the older shinobi grunted.

Wordlessly, Naruto pulled out the scroll and channeled a small amount of chakra into the seal on it; a chakra seal that would only respond to his chakra. It was placed there so that if something happened to Naruto, no one else would be able to open it. A simple but effective security measure.

The Jounin took the scroll and read it with narrowed eyes. When he'd finished, he nodded sharply and Naruto couldn't help but wonder what the scroll could have said to make him look so solemn.

"Thank you, Uzumaki-san. You're dismissed."

The blond bowed politely and then disappeared in a puff of smoke. Many miles away, back in Hajime, Naruto stared up at the ceiling with thoughts of the scroll swirling around in his mind.

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Team 7 left the town of Hajime first thing the next morning. They were given a warm sending off by Daisuke's family, during which "Yuurei" promised to stop by again sometime soon. Sasuke was silent throughout the whole ordeal, but Sakura and Kakashi had both been surprisingly friendly.

The team made their way quickly along the road that led to the south. Mt. Takatsuma was already in view, rising up on the horizon. Just as Kakashi had said, they'd probably reach it around noon.

"So who are we delivering the letter to anyway, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked curiously.

"A hermit who lives in the mountains," the silver haired Jounin replied. "Apparently his daughter usually visits him once a year, but she broke her leg recently and is unable to make the trip. Thus, we're bringing a letter from her instead."

"I still say that there are courier-nin who could do this instead," Sasuke muttered.

"But the courier-nin have more important jobs to do, Sasuke-kun," Kakashi pointed out. "They're usually carrying messages between the Villages."

The group lapsed back into silence after that and only a few words were spoken as the path began to wind its way up the mountain. They'd long since left the trees to travel by foot because, as none of them were familiar with the area, they had to follow the road. By the time the sun was high in the sky a hut appeared in the distance, partially hidden by the trees.

"That's probably it," Naruto said. Without hesitated he strode up to the door and knocked. "Hello? Is anyone—"

The door pushed open under his first. Surprised, Naruto stood blinking in the doorway for a moment. He pushed the door all the way open and glanced inside. The wooden hut consisted of only one room and was empty but for a few simple pieces of furniture.

Frowning, Naruto turned back to his team. "No one's here." The hairs on the back of Naruto's neck were standing up and his every instinct was screaming that something was wrong.

Kakashi's expression reflected Naruto's internal unease. He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the sound of something whistling through the air. Naruto turned instantly and grabbed a metal staff inches before it hit his head. No sooner had he done so, however, than a fist collided with the underside of his chin and he found himself flying through the air.

Naruto righted himself as he landed and immediately created a dozen Kage Bunshin. While they distracted the attacker, he tossed in a couple of kunai wrapped in shrapnel-carrying explosion seals. A few of the Kage Bunshin stood in front of his team, blocking them the following explosion.

The blond waited tensely for the dust to clear, looking for any sign of the attacker. Only moments later he froze however, feeling cold metal against his throat. Behind him a rough voice chuckled.

"Not bad, boy," the person rasped. "But not quite good enough."

The corner of Naruto's mouth quirked up. That might have been true—had Naruto not had a Kawarimi seal tattooed onto his body. He'd already switched with the nearest Kage Bunshin. An instant later the Kage Bunshin lunged forward, causing the blade to tear through its throat and subsequently destroy the clone. At the same time the real Naruto slapped a seal onto the attacker's back and the man froze in place.

Stepping back with a smug smile, Naruto relaxed and took a moment to really look at the attacker. To his surprise it was an elderly man with tufts of white hairs, wrinkly skin dotted with age spots, and gnarled limbs. The knuckles on his hands, which still tightly held a kunai, were twisted and bony, like knots on a tree.

"That's enough, Naruto-kun," Kakashi said calmly from a few feet away. Next to him Sasuke and Sakura were gaping in shock. "Please stop attacking our client's father."

Naruto couldn't help but do a double take. "Wait, _what_?!"

"Satoru Tadao, right?" Kakashi asked the old man. When he received no answer—not even a twitch—the Jounin directed a raised eyebrow at Naruto.

"Er, sorry, sensei," Naruto said while rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "The seal I used disrupts the electrical signals passing between nerves. He won't be able to move for another minute or so." At Kakashi reproachful look, the boy gave an indignant glare. "What? I di'n' _know_ that 'e was our target! 'e attacked me for fuck's sake!"

"Your language is slipping."

Infuriated, Naruto's glare upped a notch. He _knew_ that an accent started to slip into his tone whenever he got pissed off. He didn't need his _sensei_ to point it out.

Naruto opened his mouth to give an angry retort, but before he could he was distracted by a groan from in front of him. His eyes snapped back to Satoru, the old man, just in time to see him overcome the effects of the seal with a shudder. The next thing the blonde knew he was lying on his back, staring up at the sky.

"...What the hell?" Naruto wondered allowed.

Completely unconcerned, Satoru peeled Naruto's seal off his back and studied it curiously. "Interesting," he muttered. "I've never seen one like this before."

Naruto groaned and pulled himself onto his feet. "Old man, why the hell did you attack me?"

"You expected to just waltz into my home without any retaliation?" Satoru scoffed. "Are you stupid, boy?"

The Genin bristled angrily, but Kakashi quickly stepped in before another fight could break out. "We apologize, Satoru-san," he said. "We hadn't known that you were a shinobi. We were sent by your daughter to deliver a message." As he spoke, he pulled a thick envelope from his vest and held it out.

Satoru looked Kakashi up and down suspiciously before snatching up the proffered letter. He took a few minutes to glance it over before finally nodded and looking back up.

"She always has been clumsy," he said grudgingly. "Thank you..."

"Hatake Kakashi."

The elderly man quirked an eyebrow in recognition of the name and then nodded solemnly. "Thank you, Hatake-san. And you, boy?"

Naruto shot the man another glare. "Uzumaki Naruto," he bit out after a moment.

Satoru nodded sharply. "Well then, Uzumaki Naruto: Fix my house."

"_Excuse_ me?"

Wordlessly, Satoru pointed back at his hut. Or rather, where what had _once_ been his hut was burning, thanks to Naruto's explosive seal. The blond groaned again and dropped his head into his hands.

Why couldn't things ever go smoothly?

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A/N: No, no bandits, despite the many hints that there might be some. The first mission out of Konoha _always_ goes wrong in _every_ fanfic, so I decided to do something a bit different. This mission was important for other reasons though, which will soon become clear. Also, the vote for more screen time for Ibiki was unanimous, so that will be happening. Also, someone requested that I write more interaction between Naruto and his subordinates, so there will be such scenes coming up as well.

A reviewer commented that chakra signals (for chakra headsets, tracking seals, etc) would get disrupted every time someone preformed a jutsu. This isn't the case though: It was mentioned in chapter 420 of Naruto that there are different frequencies of chakra waves and that particular devices can be used as chakra receivers. The chakra headsets and seals used in this story _do_ work because they use different frequencies like this. It's a lot like how Pein controls his other bodies.

I keep forgetting to mention this, but a few chapters back, when the concept about the emperor was introduced, one or two people said that it couldn't work because the countries are in constant warfare. It actually does work, however, because the same thing happened in Feudal era Japan. There was an emperor whom all the daimyo served under, but those daimyo still often fought amongst themselves, trying to gain more power and land. I'll go more detail into how this works in the shinobi countries when it comes to the part in the story where such information is important

...I've also got a new Naruto story out. I couldn't help myself, really. This story will still be my main focus though. For those of you who are interested, it's called _Reality's Illusion_. Check it out if you'd like!

And, finally, there's one last thing that I need to say: Because, apparently, some people can't check my profile to find out, I am **female**_ not_ male. With breasts and everything—shocking, I know. Sorry if I sound a little harsh right now, but I've gotten just one too many reviews referring to me as a guy. It's no biggie, but now you know.

Thanks for all your reviews! More info on this story can be found at www(DOT)groups(DOT)yahoo(DOT)com/group/ShadowRebirthFanfiction.

--S.R.

_"It is doubtless impossible to approach any human problem with a mind free from bias." – Simone de Beauvoir_


	13. Arc II :: Chapter 12 :: The Mission

Title: Failing Twilight  
Author: Shadow Rebirth  
Beta Reader: Rukia23  
Rating: T/PG-13  
Warnings: Death, blood and gore, coarse language, adult themes, spoilers  
Chapter WC: 3,643  
Total WC: 63,541  
First Written: February 22, 2009  
Last Edited: June 30, 2009  
Posted: June 30, 2009  
Summary: Naruto had learnt from a young age that life could get hectic, but all this chaos with Biju, daimyos, and psychotic missing-nin was going a bit too far. Now just throw in a fourth Great Shinobi War and you've got one pissed off seal master. AU story. No pairings.

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Failing Twilight

Chapter 12_  
The Mission_

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Naruto sulked the whole way back to Konoha.

There was no other way to put it. He hung at the back of the group as they walked and refused to talk to either of his teammates. Finally, Kakashi sighed and turned the boy.

"_What_, Naruto?"

The blond glared at him. "I can't believe you made me fix that bastard's house!" he snarled.

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "Grow up, Naruto," he said shortly. "You burnt down his house, so you have to take responsibility."

"He attacked me first!" Naruto cried. "I was just defending myself."

"The circumstances don't change the fact that you burnt the house down," Kakashi replied. "You have to understand that, as a shinobi, you're a representative of Konoha. We are liable for _everything_ that happens during a mission and even if Satoru-san wasn't our client, he was still directly related to the mission."

Naruto clenched his jaw stubbornly, but his gaze dropped down to the ground. "Still..." he muttered.

The Jounin sighed exasperatedly. "Tell me, what would have happened had you not rebuilt Satoru-san's house?" he asked. At Naruto's blank stare, he continued, "Satoru-san would've been upset and most likely would have complained to his daughter, who in turn would have been upset and would most likely turn to a different village if she ever needed help again. And what would happen if there were a hundred different missions with results similar to this? Konoha would lose business and its reputation would lower, which would, in turn, cause it to lose even more business...But, of course, that's just the worst case scenario. The _point_ is that you must always be courteous and honorable in public because your actions reflect back on Konoha."

"But in the shadows it's an entirely different story, right?" Naruto asked dryly.

At Kakashi's cheerful nod Naruto chuckled while shaking his head. Though he still didn't agree with it, he grudgingly understood his sensei's words. He finally relaxed for the rest of the trip.

Unfortunately, Sasuke, who'd been brooding as well, didn't have such a mood lift. If anything he started sulking even more, glaring darkly at everything they passed. Even Sakura had long since begun to edge away from him.

Kakashi sighed again and decided to ignore all of his Genin for the rest of the trip. He giggled; _Icha Icha_ was calling.

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Upon returning to Konohagakure and completing his mission report, Naruto decided to head over to the training grounds. He hadn't gotten to do any training at all within the past few days and he figured that it would be a good way to blow off some steam. Or at least he thought so until he walked into the nearest training ground and found Sasuke already there. Remembering his teammate's earlier nasty mood, he immediately turned to leave, to give the boy some space.

"Naruto."

The blond sighed. Of course. Things could _never_ be easy.

"Yeah, Sasuke?" he asked wearily.

With a sudden burst of speed, the Uchiha was across the field and standing in front of him. Naruto noticed now that he had a fierce scowl on his face and a glint of rage in his eyes. Unconsciously, he took a step back, surprised.

"Fight me."

Now _that_ was not what he'd been expecting. "...What?"

"You heard me. Fight me."

"...No."

Sasuke snarled viciously and he clenched his fists tight enough to turn his knuckles white. "Why not?" he demanded.

"Why the hell do you think, _Uchiha_?" Naruto snapped. "You just come up and demand to fight me? No way in hell!"

Without another word Naruto activated his Shunshin seal and disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Once his feet were on solid ground again, he immediately headed over to his office in the Intel Headquarters. He proceeded to stomp ungracefully down the hallway, all the while ranting in his head about his teammate.

"What's got your panties in a twist?"

Naruto twitched and turned to glare at Ibiki. "Nothing!" he snapped immediately.

Ibiki's raised eyebrow spoke volumes about what he thought of the response. The Genin gave a sigh of frustration and ran an agitated hand through his hair.

"Sorry, Ibiki-sempai. It's— It's my teammate," he muttered. "He's a complete and utter jackass. Today 'e randomly came up to me and demanded that we fight. Demanded!"

"I would have thought that you'd accept."

"Normally I would," Naruto admitted. "But it fuckin' pissed me off! It was like 'e expected me ta say yes jus' because _he_ wanted ta fight! I don't even know why 'e was put on our team; just 'cause he's a 'genius Uchiha' doesn't mean 'e can't fight worth a damn—"

"Oh, grow up, brat," Ibiki suddenly growled. Naruto reeled back, shocked. "It's attitudes like that that get shinobi killed out in the field."

"But he—"

"I don't give a damn about what he does; I'm talking about _you_. Stop acting so damn self-righteous and take a moment to think about _why_ your teammate might have accosted you. People _never_ do anything without some kind of motivation behind it."

"Never say never," Naruto retorted, just to be combative.

Ibiki gave him a withering glare. His lips thinned and for a moment it looked as though he wanted to say something else, but in the end he just shook his head.

"Go take care of your paperwork, brat," he grunted. Then he turned around and walked away, leaving Naruto feeling strangely like a child who'd been scolded. The Genin scowled at the very thought and stomped the rest of the way to his office.

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The following days were very tense for Team 7. Sasuke seemed to be attempting to get a rise out of Naruto every second that he could and the blond was in turn coldly ignoring him, except for the occasional scathing comment. Sakura had no idea what to do about the situation, so she stayed out of it as best as she could. Meanwhile, Kakashi was growing more and more annoyed.

It got so bad that one day Naruto literally walked out on a mission. Ignoring Kakashi's demands for him to return, he used Shunshin to get away and decided to make his way over to one of the few places that he could relax, other than his home and Haru's tavern. A bare second later, Naruto appeared in front of a relatively large house surrounded by vegetation. He casually strode up to the door and rang the doorbell. Moments later it was opened by a middle-aged woman with dark hair.

"Ah, Naruto-kun!" the woman exclaimed. "I haven't seen you since before you became a Genin! Come in, come in. How are you? You're here to see Shikamaru, yes?"

Chuckling, the blond stepped inside. "I'm doing fine, Yoshino-san. And yeah, I'd like to talk to Shika, if you don't mind."

"Of course it's fine," the woman all but beamed. "He's probably out back, lazing around."

Not for the first time Naruto wondered how someone as apathetic as Shikamaru could be related to someone like Nara Yoshino. He nodded and thanked her politely for her hospitality before heading outside.

The Nara estate was set on acres and acres of wild land on the very borders of Konohagakure. They were responsible for raising deer whose antlers were used to make a special antidote for pills that the Akimichi clan used. That was the main reason why the two clans were so close, history aside. Directly behind the Nara's house however, was a large field that was usually used for training. Just as Yoshino had expected, Shikamaru was lying in the grass, staring up at the clouds.

Naruto dropped heavily onto the ground next to him and proceeded to make himself comfortable. Only then did he turn to Shikamaru, who'd been boring a whole in his side with his gaze.

"...I thought you had a mission today?"

Naruto shrugged. "I did," he said shortly.

Shikamaru snorted. "Trouble again?" he asked. When Naruto nodded but made no move to reply, he sighed. "Alright, come on."

"Huh?" Confused, Naruto watched as Shikamaru pushed himself up off the ground. "What're you—?"

"We're going out. You're a drag when you're like this."

The blond scoffed, but grudgingly got up as well. "Fine," he said. "Where are we going then?"

A grin leapt onto Shikamaru's face. "Where do you think?"

Naturally, a few minutes later the two Genin found themselves in the Black Wolf Tavern. Haru greeted them cheerfully and, with a wave, Shikamaru pulled Naruto over to the nearest poker game.

"You know, your mother would kill me if she knew I taught you to gamble," Naruto said.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Just sit down, would you?"

It was the middle of the day and thus few people were there. Even the air itself had a lazy, sluggish feel to it. Naruto and Shikamaru had a fun regardless, especially since it'd been weeks since they'd last seen each other.

"So why do you have today off anyway?" Naruto asked eventually.

"Eh," the dark haired boy shrugged. "Asuma-sensei has a mission today. He said we could have the day off, so--"

A loud voice suddenly jarred the two. They jerked around, surprised, and found that a purple haired woman and a dark haired man had just entered the tavern, laughing capriciously.

"You got any sake, old man?" the woman asked Haru while grinning widely.

Haru rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah," he retorted. "Take a seat and you'll be served in a minute."

The woman nodded happily and began to wander inside when her eyes landed on the two Genin. She let out a bark of laughter and instantly headed over to them.

"Well I'll be damned!" she exclaimed. "What kind of a place is this if kids hang out here?"

"They_ are_ shinobi," her companion pointed out while glancing at their hitai-ate.

"Bah!" the woman instantly waved his comment off. "Children are children, no matter their profession."

Immediately, the woman's words struck a chord in Naruto. His shoulders tensed and a snarl leapt onto his face. Twice already this week he'd been told to grow up by adults that he trusted, so what this woman—who he didn't even _know_—was essentially saying the same thing caused his temper to flare.

"Don't judge people you've never met before!" he snapped angrily.

Shikamaru shot him a strange look. He placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, pushing him back into his seat from his partially risen position.

"What my friend means to say is that we've been coming here for a long time," Shikamaru said calmly. "Our age has little influence on the matter."

The woman waved off Shikamaru's reply while grinning broadly at Naruto. "Well someone's a little firecracker, eh?" she said to him.

Haru rolled his eyes as he set down two cups of sake in front of the newcomers. "Don't mind him," he said, jerking his head in Naruto's direction. "He's been in a foul mood all week."

Naruto glared harder at the table and gritted his teeth together to make sure that he'd didn't blurt anything out. So what if he'd been in a bad mood? It felt like the entire world had been conspiring against him, so he had every right to be pissed off.

Abruptly, Naruto pushed his chair back and stood up. "I'm out of here," he muttered.

"Naruto—" Shikamaru called out, but the blond was already gone, leaving only a swirl of leaves in his wake.

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"We've got another C-rank mission," Kakashi announced roughly. He'd been short-tempered the whole week; but then, all of Team 7 had been out of sorts. "Normally I wouldn't request one when you're all acting like the brats that you are, but since a mission out of the Village started all of this, perhaps another one will end it. While we're gone the three of you will behave like the shinobi that you are, regardless of your personal feelings. You _will_ work together, like it or not."

"What's the mission, sensei?" Sakura asked quietly.

"We have to collect some special medical herbs that can only be found in a valley west of here—"

"That's just a D-rank mission," Sasuke immediately protested.

"It is," Kakashi agreed. "Just like our last mission, the only reason this one is a C-rank is because of its distance from the village and the possibility of dangerous wild animals in the area. Do you honestly believe that you three deserve anything else right now?"

None of them replied. Naruto quietly scuffed his feet on the ground, grinding his teeth and refusing to look. This wasn't _his_ fault. _He_ wasn't the one constantly demanding a spar, again and again and again. _He_ was the one who—

"Right," the silver haired Jounin said sharply. "Let's move out then, yes?"

The trip out of Konoha was just as silent as the trip down from Mt. Takatsuma had been a week before. The trees seemed to rustle unusually loudly as they swiftly passed by and yet they heard no wildlife sounds. It was as though even the birds were avoiding the strange tension that had a hold on their team.

Sunset was just starting to fall when they finally arrived at the designated location: A wide valley that was dotted with trees. Plants of every type and size covered the ground, making for an interesting array of colors. It was a pretty view Naruto had to admit, although his mind was hardly on the plants.

"We'll camp here for the night," Kakashi announced. "That way we can start looking in the morning when we have full sunlight to aid our search. Well? Get going!"

Silently the three children began to move about. After a brief squabble they decided on a location for their camp—in the middle of a treeless expanse, so that nothing could sneak up on them, and on top of a hill, so that they wouldn't get flooded if it rained—gathered firewood, and laid everything out.

When Naruto began to light the pile of firewood they'd set up, Sasuke immediately slapped his hand away and started the hand seals for a fire jutsu himself. The blond snarled in annoyance, but wasn't petty enough to put out the fire so that he could do it himself. Instead he stalked away, intent on staying as far from the Uchiha as possible.

"Naruto!" Kakashi barked. "Where are you going?"

The whiskered boy thought quickly. "To patrol the area for any potential dangers—"

The Jounin paused. "Fine," he said grudgingly. "But just do a quick sweep."

Naruto's nails dug into his palms, but he didn't dare disobey a direct order from a superior—not again. He turned on his heel and stormed into the encroaching darkness. He hardly paid attention to his surroundings as he walked, caught up in his anger and frustration as he was.

When Naruto returned to camp, Kakashi set him to cooking their rations while Sasuke and Sakura set out sleeping rolls. He was stirring a little harder than was strictly necessary, not that he cared.

"Careful there," Sasuke sneered. "If you act like the thug that you are, you'll end up breaking the pot."

A twitch had formed in Naruto's left eye. "Well at least _I _have the strength to stir it, girly-boy," he snapped back.

Sasuke positively bristled at the insult to his masculinity. "I could beat you in a fight any day, asshole!" he growled. "That's why you keep avoiding me, right? You know you could never beat me."

"Sorry, but I just don't waste my time with cockroaches—"

"Boys!" Kakashi roared, causing the Genin to jump. "Stop figh—" Abruptly his head snapped to the side and his eyes widened in surprise. "Get down!"

Naruto heard what his sensei did in the same moment. Instantly, he leapt away from the fire, pulling Sasuke with him, just in time to avoid a hail of arrows that rained down on the camp. Moments later armed men began to pour from the surrounding clusters trees.

Bandits, Naruto quickly realized. He immediately started cursing himself; he should have noticed men like these miles and miles away! And _he_ was the one to patrol the area too. If they were close enough to attack like this, then they had to have left signs behind. If only he'd actually been paying attention...!

"Repressed chakra," Kakashi said quickly. "They've got a small amount of chakra training—not much, but enough to make a difference."

Naruto nodded grimly and, enraged by his own slipup, he surged forward towards the oncoming men. In an instant he'd created a handful of Kage Bunshin and in another instant they were all over the bandits. Jutsu and shuriken flew around him and Naruto ducked under the blade of one bandit and in a single lightning fast motion shoved a kunai into his gut. He twisted the blade as he pulled it free and the large man fell to his knees with gasp. A quick slice at his throat and he would never get back up.

Without pausing to think, Naruto moved onto the next opponent and then the next. An exploding tag went off nearby, courtesy of one of his clones, forcing him to use his Kawarimi seal to escape the blast. Despite this, his movements never halted, his blade never stopped swinging.

Barely thirty seconds had gone by and already the bandits were nearly finished. Naruto cast a quick glance over at Kakashi and Sakura before using Shunshin to land next Sasuke.

"How's it goin'!" he called gleefully. "Still alive, I see?"

Sasuke sent him a withering glare. The dark haired boy was breathing heavily and his blood-covered hands were shaking slightly. "Fuck you, Naruto!" he snapped.

Naruto's grin just widened. "Oh come on, come on; lighten up, would you?"

Sasuke snarled silently and slashed out at the blond. Surprised, Naruto leapt back, just barely avoiding the blow.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" he yelped. "Easy there! We're in the middle of a _fight_, in case you hadn't noticed!"

"Exactly," Sasuke retorted. "What better time than to finally fight _you_?"

Naruto turned fully from the bandits. "Alright, that's it," he said seriously. "This is starting to get ridiculous. Would you at least tell me _why_ you're so goddamned determined to make me fight you?"

Again, Sasuke snarled viciously. "Why? You're asking me _why_?! What the hell does it matter to you?!"

"It damn well does matter to me! I'm the one you're trying ta fight, so why wouldn't it!"

"Because you're a _moron_!"

"Excus—!"

"You were just some goddamn slacker in the back of the class who never showed up and only caused trouble when you did!" Sasuke ranted, oblivious to Naruto's flabbergasted expression. "You were just _some kid_. And then all of the sudden you're this fucking _super_ ninja with all this knowledge and training that you shouldn't have! I've worked so damn hard to get where I am! I get up at three every fucking morning to train! And then I'm on my way to Training Ground #7 and you know what I see? You out at some restaurant, eating and laughing and having a fucking _ball_, without a care in the world! It's just not _fair_! I work twice as hard as you do and yet—"

"Don't you dare," Naruto said dangerously. Sasuke pulled up short, surprised by the dark edge in Naruto's voice. "Don't you fucking _dare_ tell me that you've got it so 'ard! You want to know 'ow I've gotten where I 'ave? I 'ave dozens of Kage Bunshin out all the time, literally _killing_ _themselves_ ta get some training done. I don't sleep; I work on new projects and new techniques. I started workin' at a blacksmith's shop when I was _six years old_ in order ta earn a living. What were you doin' back then? Playing with toy kunai?

"I've done more than you can ever begin to guess, Sasuke. I 'aven't coasted ta where I am, I've 'auled myself 'ere through sweat, blood, and fuckin' _tears_. I'm 'sorry' if ya think you're not getting what ya deserve, but this ain't about getting what ya _deserve_—no one gets that. If ya want ta become strong, you've got ta keep on getting' up at three in the mornin' _every_ day an' keep goin' at it again an' again an' again, _without_ complaining 'bout other people."

"Would the two of you stop acting like this is some sort of fucking pissing contest?!"

Naruto and Sasuke both jumped at the sound of their sensei's voice. Immediately they realized that they'd gotten so caught up in their argument that they'd lost sight of the fight around them. Fortunately, most of the bandits had already been taken care of by the time their own "fight" had started and now there was nothing but corpses littering the ground, staining the grass with their blood. One of the men groaned and stretched a hand upward. Kakashi offhandedly tossed a kunai. It pierced the bandit's chest with pinpoint accuracy and he fell silent, his eyes misting over with death.

The two young Genin shifted guiltily under Kakashi's scorching glare. "Do you really think that now's the time for this?" he asked, sounding both soft and harsh at the same time. Naruto shivered; he'd heard that tone once before from Ibiki right before he'd killed a prisoner. "This is why you haven't been out of Konoha; you're both acting like three year olds. You—" He pulled up short abruptly, glancing around. "Where's Sakura?"

Naruto's head snapped around, alarmed. But Kakashi's observation had been accurate: The pink haired girl was nowhere in sight and even her chakra signature was beyond Naruto's senses.

"Oh _shit_."

High above, the light of the failing twilight began to fade away.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shunshin – Body Flicker technique  
Hitai-ate – Forehead protector  
Kage Bunshin – Shadow Clone technique  
Kawarimi – Replacement technique

A/N: Geh, I really don't like the crap that went on in this chapter with Naruto and Sasuke, but it's _very _necessary. As such, I wanted to get it all over with in one chapter. And before anyone asks, yes, both Sasuke and Sakura will be a major character in this story—just not for a while yet. And more about the bandits and their motives will be explained in the next chapter, so don't ask about them just yet.

A few reviewers keep mentioning that by now Orochimaru would have left the Akatsuki (from back in chapter 9). As I mentioned in the AN for that chapter, having Orochimaru still with the Akatsuki is _not_ a timeline mistake on my part. This story is AU; _alternate_ universe. Orochimaru's past is different because he never left Akatsuki. From this point onward _never_ assume that events are going to be the same as canon.

Also—although I don't normally do this—go read _In the Breaking_ by eminyet. Seriously. It's potentially one of the most unique stories I've read to date and is very intriguing so far. The author also has a distinctive disjointed style that I've never come across before, which helps to make the story all the more interesting. And yet, despite this, it's virtually unknown. Eminyet's Bleach story, Soulborn, is fantastic as well if you like that fandom.

And finally, for those of you who don't know, I now have website up for info on all of my stories (and it also archives the stories themselves). If you'd like to take a look, here's the link: shadowrebirth(DOT)webs(DOT)com.

Thanks for all you reviews!

--S.R.


	14. Arc II :: Chapter 13 :: The Message

Title: Failing Twilight  
Author: Shadow Rebirth  
Beta Reader: Rukia23  
Rating: T/PG-13  
Warnings: Death, blood and gore, coarse language, adult themes, spoilers  
Chapter WC: 4,269  
Total WC: 67,810  
First Written: June 2, 2010  
Last Edited: June 3, 2010  
Posted: June 3, 2010  
Summary: Naruto had learnt from a young age that life could get hectic, but all this chaos with Biju, daimyos, and psychotic missing-nin was going a bit too far. Now just throw in a fourth Great Shinobi War and you've got one pissed off seal master. AU story. No pairings.

**This chapter is currently unedited.**

**

* * *

**

Failing Twilight

Chapter 13_  
The Message_

_

* * *

_

Naruto's mind raced at a thousand miles an hour. His thoughts buzzed and his heart pounded in his chest. It felt like someone had reached into his throat and was pulling his very air from his lungs, making it impossible to breathe.

_No. Nononononononono._

His foot collided with another branch and then pushed off with enough force to send him flying to the next tree. He sped through the treetops as quickly as he could, following Kakashi with Sasuke at his side. The other two were just as grimfaced as he was and Naruto wondered if they felt like him-like they were overflowing with emotions, with fear and guilt and _dear god _how had this happened?

Sakura was gone, whisked away. The sun was already starting to rise and still they were no closer to finding her.

"The bandits were supposed to have been cleared out of this area recently," Kakashi said, glancing over his shoulder. He was completely expressionless. It sent a shiver down Naruto's spine; he'd never seen the man this enraged before. "Either we were given false intel or something happened here recently. Either way it's not good."

"They had no reason to attack us," Naruto added. "We have nothing they could have wanted; they had more to lose than to gain by attacking us."

"And lose they did," Sasuke said with grim satisfaction. He was staring straight ahead, refusing to look at his teammate and his sensei.

A small smile lifted the corner of Naruto's mouth. "Indeed. But... Why would they take Sakura?" he asked thoughtfully. It was the question that had been racing through his mind the whole night, repeating over and over.

"Leverage?" Sasuke offered.

"Doesn't seem like much use; they're already all dead."

Abruptly Kakashi stopped on a wide branch and the two Genin had to pull up short to stop themselves from overshooting the tree. "A shinobi took her," Kakashi said once they'd landed beside him. He crouched down and lightly brushed his fingers against a spot on the branch were the wood had splintered-and recently too, from the looks of it. "This kind of damage is only caused by using too much chakra while tree jumping."

Naruto shifted uneasily. "But why?" he repeated.

Kakashi looked up, and Naruto almost took a step back when he saw that the man's eyes were burning with raw rage. "At this point it doesn't matter. We will find her and we will kill them, regardless of who they are. _No one_ hurts my teammates."

As the small group picked up their pace again, now assured that they were moving in the right direction, Naruto and Sasuke shared a shaky glance that for once wasn't filled with animosity. Neither of them had known that their teacher could be so terrifying.

* * *

She could feel a cold hand on her chin, lifting up her head. Sakura shuddered, so terrified she couldn't breathe. A soft laugh blew across her face and she shook again. Even his breath was cold-too, too cold. Cold like this room, cold like the goosebumbs rising on her skin, cold like the icy fingers wrapped around her heart, threatening to rip it from her chest. Finally the hand on her chin pulled away, but instead of being relieved, she found her fear was only increasing. Thanks to a blindfold she couldn't see anything and the blood pounding in her ears drowned out almost all other sounds.

He could be anywhere now. He could be gone or he could be standing near her, waiting. For what? God, she didn't know. She didn't know, didn't know anything, didn't want to. She wanted to get out, she wanted to get away-away, away, away. Anywhere not here.

Sakura flinched as gravel crunched beneath his foot as he turned. "Terrified little lamb," he hummed. "With fear so sweet, ah..." He breathed in deeply and then laughed loudly when a sob slipped out of her lips. The sound echoed off the walls and she whimpered, again unable to keep the sound in.

"You do know how creepy that sounded right?" another voice asked dryly.

This one was a woman, Sakura thought. A door creaked somewhere near the voice. Or at least she thought it was near it. She couldn't tell anymore; all the sounds seemed to blend into one, coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. She felt completely lost, in way she never had before. She had no idea what was happening or what was going to happen.

The man just laughed again. "You should not be here," he said. Despite his words, he sounded more amused than angry.

"Eh." The tone of voice and the sound of shifting material made Sakura assume the woman had shrugged. "Not like it really matters." Again there was a shifting of clothing, as though some sort of motion was being made. "In any case, I thought you might want to know that they're nearly here."

The man hummed softly. "Pity. I was hoping we would have a bit more time; she is a fantastic specimen." Sakura shuddered again. "Ah well, what is life without the unknown variables?"

He took a few steps away before suddenly stopping and turning again. Sakura's breath caught in her throat as she waited for him to move, sure that he would come back over to her. Instead, there was the sound of coins clinking to together followed by a thud. Though she couldn't be sure, Sakura thought it sounded like a bag of coins hitting a table. Of course, it could also be a bad of shuriken, or lord knew what else. She didn't want to think too hard on it.

"You can have your fun now," the man said to someone else. "Just be sure to be quick about it and leave no traces when you depart. Oh, and be sure not to kill her. If you botch it up, I will cut you half and leave you die. Doesn't sound too bad? Most of the vital organs are in the upper half of the body; it would take you at least a few minutes to die completely. In the mean time you'd even be able to squirm around on the floor in a pool of your own blood and contemplate your mistakes."

Several people gulped and a chorus of "Yes, Sir." rang out. Sakura started shaking, but for a different reason-she hadn't realized there were so many people in the room. _How many?_ She thought frantically. She couldn't tell. Couldn't see, couldn't hear, couldn't breathe. Where were they? What were they going to do?

A door creaked again, then closed with a loud _thud_ that rang with a sort of finality that made Sakura's heart stop for a moment. She whimpered again when footsteps began to close in and sobbed when the first cold blade touched her skin.

Cold. So very cold.

* * *

When they found a small, dilapidated cabin, a spark that felt like a bolt of lightning ran through Naruto, setting his veins on fire. He used his chakra to put on an extra burst of chakra so that he landed right in front of the door. He slammed it open and rushed inside with Kakashi and Sasuke right on his heels.

Naruto pivoted on one foot, looking for something-anything-but seeing only cobwebs and rotting wood. "Nothing?" he growled. "But there's nothing else in the area-"

But Kakashi was already on the other side of the room, pulling up a trapdoor. "Basement," he said, then dropped down inside.

Just as Naruto reached the trapdoor himself, Sasuke moved in front of him and leapt down. The blond growled, but said nothing as he too dropped into the basement. The walls here were made of cold stone that formed a narrow hallway with three doors. The first two rooms were empty, although they were dust-free, as though someone had been there recently.

When he stepped into the last room, Naruto's heart leapt up into his throat and stayed there. Sakura was lying on the stone floor, surrounded by her own blood. She looked like-like nothing Naruto had seen before. It was so bad that he could hardly recognize her, covered in blood and bruises as she was. There was a long, straight cut running down her arm that was still oozing blood and her hair was a dark color, matted with drying blood.

"Sakura," Naruto breathed, feeling bile rise up in his throat. Sasuke looked just as shocked and disturbed. "_Sakura_!"

Kakashi was already by her side, carefully turning her onto her back and checking her vital signs. "She's alive," he announced, his voice still hard and clinical despite the relief that was apparent in the way his shoulders dropped slightly. "But she's in a bad condition; we need to get her to a medic, and soon."

"Should we take her back to Konoha or to a nearby village?" Sasuke asked anxiously. Naruto glanced over at him, surprised-he'd never seen the dark haired boy show so much emotion.

"Neither; we can't move her now, not without making her wounds worse. I already sent one of my ninken summons back Konohagakure, so a team should already be on their way," Kakashi answered. He took several rolls of bandages out of one of his pockets and used them to do a makeshift job on her worst wounds. Naruto and Sasuke watched anxiously over his should

"Dammit," Sasuke growled. "_Dammit_."

Grimacing, Naruto sat back on his heels. "This is bad," he said quietly.

"No shit, moron." Naruto snorted, but didn't reply. "None of this makes sense," Sasuke continued agitatedly. "_None_ of it."

Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when he saw that Sasuke was staring up at the wall. He followed the boy's gaze and once again felt his heart stop. He'd had complete tunnel vision when they'd first come in, focusing only on Sakura, but now he could see that on the wall behind her was a single sentence, written roughly with still-dripping blood.

_Can't put up a fight yet?_

"No," Naruto breathed out, unable to believe his eyes. He knew those words. They were a taunt from an encountered from so very long ago. One that had been burned into his mind despite his young age-or perhaps because of it. "It can't be-!"

"Naruto?" Kakashi asked sharply. "You know something?"

The young Genin hardly heard him. "Him. It was him. Uchiha Madara. He-!" He choked, bile rising up in his throat again. Oh god, it was his fault. It was because of him that Sakura had- "No!"

"What?" Sasuke snarled. "What are you talking about?"

"Madara?" Kakashi repeated, most of his attention still on helping Sakura. "The Uchiha Madara who died half a century ago?"

"Died?" Naruto laughed, nearly hysterical. He didn't even notice that he was shaking. "I don't know. I don't know! That was his name. I- I met him was I was young. Years and years ago, back when I had just started the Academy." He stopped and swallowed slowly, looking over at Sasuke. "It was on the night of the Massacre."

Sasuke paled sheet white, but looked as though he didn't know what to think of Naruto's words. "Are you trying to tell me that my _long-dead ancestor_ killed my family?" he demanded.

"I don't know!" Naruto roughly ran a shaking hand through his hair, still staring at the wall. "I don't know," he repeated. "But he was there, and he had this weird Sharingan and now these words- It's him. It's _Him_." He looked up Kakashi, scared out of his mind. "I have to talk to Sandaime-sama."

"Yeah, you really do."

* * *

"It's all been taken care of, Orochimaru-sama."

Orochimaru glanced up from the scroll he'd been reading. Two cloaked figures were standing before him. The man who'd spoken smiled and light glinted off his glasses.

"And they found her?"

"Yes sir. I also took care of the men we 'hired'. They...won't be speaking anytime soon."

The second cloaked person chuckled. "That's one way of putting it," the woman said.

Orochimaru ignored their extra conversation. "I assume then that the message has been successfully relayed?"

"Of course," the young man said with a nod. "I daresay that Uzumaki will be quite shaken up. Although...I can't profess to understand what the message meant."

"And you shouldn't." When Orochimaru said nothing else and simply returned to his scroll, the two figures bowed and took their leave.

"Go find your teammates Kabuto-kun," the woman said. "We need to get back to Konoha before they realize we've taken too long on a simple mission."

"Yes, sensei."

* * *

Naruto stood alone in front of a vending machine. He stared blankly through the glass, reading the names of the snacks without actually taking anything in. The hospital stuff bustled around him, paying him no attention even though he'd been there for more than fifteen minutes without moving.

There was a pair of blue eyes staring back at him in the glass. They were his own, he knew. And yet somehow didn't. They looked so strange. So blue and dark and _old_. He could swear that they'd darkened as he'd grown. They'd been a lighter shade when he'd been younger. Everything had been. So light and carefree. It was all about exploring, discovering. All about having fun. When had that faded away? When he'd started at the Academy? When he'd gotten a job?

No, it was when he'd met Madara. That was when it'd stopped being a game. That was when the ugly truth of his existence had reared its head and he'd found himself having enemies who wanted his head simply for existing. That was when being a shinobi had stopped being a dream job and become a tool-a means for survival.

And what had it come to? His teammate lying in a hospital bed, covered in bandages? His other teammate silently brood in a corner? Her parents sobbing at her bedside?

It was his fault.

He knew it was. The Sandaime told him it wasn't. Told him that he couldn't control the actions of another. Kakashi said the same. Ibiki had nodded in silent agreement. But Sakura's parents hadn't said anything. Hadn't said a word to him since they'd gotten back three days ago. And it stung worse than he'd expected, but less than he knew he deserved.

There was another face in the glass now, staring at him over his shoulder. Dark eyes. Darker than his.

"Naruto."

"...Sasuke." Naruto stared back at his teammate through the glass, unwilling to turn around and face reality. It was so much easier to look at everything through the glass, as though it was all just a dream. "I-"

Naruto searched for words and found none. Sasuke was silent as well and despite all of his experience, Naruto couldn't read anything on his face. That was one thing that had always bothered him about Sasuke; he was always so blank.

Sasuke opened his mouth and then hesitated. He tore his gaze away from Naruto and stared down the hallway instead. He leaned back against the wall with his hands in his pockets, slouching. "I don't know what to do," he said finally. The words came out grudgingly; forced.

"...About what?"

"Everything. Just... everything. About Sakura. I never meant for-"

Naruto nodded grimly. "I know," he replied. It said everything that needed to be said between them and they were both unwilling to say more on the subject. "It's my fault anyway." Naruto looked away as well. "I know Kakashi keeps saying that it's not, but that doesn't change what happened. Madara... He was trying to get to me. Sakura... This never would have happened to her if she wasn't on my team."

Sasuke's head dropped so that his hair was hiding his face and Naruto could tell that he was clenching his fists. "This isn't right," Sasuke said lowly. "None of it. There isn't supposed to be another Uchiha, especially not _him_. It- it was all clear-cut, before. There was my brother and I, and I knew what I had to do. Now there's him and you and Sakura and-"

Sasuke mouth clicked shut. His jaw clenched for a minute before his finally looked up and Naruto was struck with how lost he looked, as though the entire world had turned on its head.

"And you know what?" Sasuke continued. There was a bitter edge to his voice now. "Once again, it all revolves around you. Even my family. Even my own fucking _dream_."

Naruto looked away, understanding all too well the raw pain in Sasuke's eyes. "I don't want any of it," he said softly. "Madara, he... He's after me for a reason. And it's for that very reason that I _have_ to get stronger. I- I can't allow something like this to happen again. I _have_ to be able to fight back."

"And what's 'the reason'? Why on Earth could cause someone to come after _you_?"

Naruto stared hard at Sasuke, torn about how to answer. "...Can I trust you?"

Sasuke stared back. This entire situation must have really shaken him up, because he was seriously considering Naruto's question and what it meant. The young Uchiha shifted from foot to foot for a minute before finally making his decision.

"Yes."

A small smile came onto Naruto's face. "Then come with me."

* * *

Ino was crying by her shoulder. Sobbing hysterically and uttering apology after apology, as though it was her fault that Sakura was lying there in the hospital bed. Sakura took it silently, nodding in all the right places and smiling when she could. Or at least attempting to smile, as the searching looks Ino gave her told her that she wasn't quite succeeding.

It was another hour before her old friend finally left. Sakura hated to think that she was getting sick of the blond girl's presence... Only she didn't hate to think so. She didn't feel either way, really. She just felt...empty. Like she was a passenger in her own body, watching apathetically as the world passed her by.

Her parents were outside as well now, leaving her alone. Alone in the deafening silence. She sat up in bed, just to make some sort of noise. But it still didn't leave. That ever-present stillness; the feeling that everything was missing.

The door creaked open and Sakura stared at it. She felt as though she should have jumped at the sound-felt _some_ sort of fear-but still there was nothing. Then Naruto stuck his head through the opening and she felt something stir; something that she couldn't recognize. The blond shuffled inside, looking anywhere but at Sakura. And then, to her great surprise, Sasuke followed him inside.

"Hey," Naruto said nervously. He still didn't manage to meet her gaze. _How odd_, Sakura thought. "Sorry I haven't come to see you sooner. You were in the operating room and then there were debriefings and-" He gulped. "Well, just...sorry."

Sakura stared at him, puzzled. "...Why?" she asked. Naruto froze looking like a deer in headlights, so Sakura amended her question. "Why are you sorry?"

"This is..." Naruto shuffled nervously while staring at his feet. He cleared his throat and tried again, this time in a stronger voice. As he did so he finally lifted his head to meet Sakura's inquiring gaze. "I just thought you should know why all of this happened. It's the least you deserve. All of this...it's my fault. I don't know how much you've been told yet, but the man who organized the ambush was named Uchiha Madara and he... And he did what he did to get to me. To leave a message, for whatever sick reasons he has. As for the reason why he's after me..." He paused to glance over at Sasuke before continuing. "Well, once upon a time there was a demon known as the Kyuubi no Kitsune..."

Sakura listened to his story in stony silence. It would have been completely preposterous if it didn't explain everything. The Kyuubi... Their textbooks had never said specifically how it had been defeated. She'd always wondered about that, wondered how they could go into such detail on the Yondaime Hokage, then skip over something so monumental.

Lifting up his shirt, Naruto showed them the seal. It was like a work of art, Sakura noticed distractedly. The lines almost seem to dance across his skin, twisting and twining in a myriad of different directions. And that black ink was all that stood between the world and the Kyuubi. Nothing more than a seal... And Naruto.

After Naruto had finished, a tense, unsettling silence fell over the room. Naruto looked like he was torn between bolting from the room and holding his head up high, stubbornly determined to stay. Sasuke's eyes were closed and his expression was unreadable. Sakura felt a faint tug on her heart before the feeling faded away. She stared down at her bandaged hands lying in her lap. Two of her fingers, the two that had been broken, were in braces and she could see a dark bruise peeking out from the bandages on her wrist.

"So..." Her voice was nearly inaudible, but her teammates nearly jumped at the sudden sound in the silence. Would have jumped, had they not been shinobi. Her fingers dug tightly into the blankets. "They...came after me...just to get to you?"

Naruto gulped audibly. "Y-yeah. I'm really sorry Sakura! I had _no_ idea that something like this could happen-" He cut himself off and breathed in deeply. "I-"

"I couldn't do anything," Sakura said abruptly. She looked up at the other two Genin, solidly meeting their gazes. "I was so terrified... So scared I felt like my heart was going to jump right out of my chest. But I couldn't _do anything_. I'm supposed to be kunoichi-" She laughed suddenly and the boys exchanged an uneasy glance. "I saw a kunoichi when I was young," Sakura continued with dark humor. "She was so beautiful and graceful. I'd never seen anything like it. I wanted to be just like her, to be so... I never really got it, you know. Even after everything we went through in the Academy, after everything I read, after I learned how best to cut a jugular. It was still like a game, like one of those action movies on TV. I... I've never even broken a bone before, you know.

"And now..." She drifted into silence for a moment. When she spoke again her voice was even softer. "They _used_ me. Like some tool; a means to an end. _And I couldn't do anything about it_. I _hate_ feeling like that. So, so-!"

"Empty?" Sasuke offered quietly. His teammates stared at him in surprise. "Hollow, like you're just a shade of a person, watching everything pass by?"

Sakura swallowed thickly and shifted her gaze away. "Yeah..."

"I..." Sasuke hesitated, then turned his back on them. "When I was six years old, my brother killed my family. The entire Uchiha Clan. I was the only one he left alive. I saw him standing there. Holding a bloody sword while standing over my parents' bodies. And there was nothing I could do. I tried. I _tried_ to help them, but he was a goddammed ANBU and I-" He ground to a halt, clenching his jaw so tightly that his teeth ground audibly.

Sakura stared dumbly at his back. She had never known. Well, she'd known about the Uchiha Massacre, of course, but she'd never actually heard Sasuke talk about it. He _never_ spoke about his feelings. That was part of what had made him so cool; he had such a tragic past, but he never let it bother him. Or at least, that was how it had seemed. Now Sakura realized that the opposite was true-he was completely ruled by his past.

And she also realized that this was his way apologizing-something he'd never do directly.

"Thank you," she whispered.

Sasuke just shook his head. "But now, with Madara," he continued, acting as though he hadn't heard her-Sakura smiled at that-and still not facing them, "I'm not sure what happened. I've never thought too hard about it. But now I _want_ to know what happened. Itachi was there, he _killed_ them. But what about Madara? He shouldn't even be alive, let alone to have been there. And these Akatsuki..." His fists clenched tighter. "I'll _kill_ them," he declared viciously. "If it'll get me to Itachi, I'll kill them all."

"Then I get Madara," Sakura said firmly.

"Eh?" Naruto gave her a startled look. "But-"

"He's responsible for this," she continued, refusing to budge an inch. "You can't take that away from me. _He's mine_."

Naruto opened his mouth to reply, only to close it. Then suddenly, for no apparent reason, he doubled over laughing.

"Oi!" Sakura protested.

"Sorry," Naruto managed between breaths. "It's just that this is all so serious and _gloomy_. It's like one of those old martial arts films with the revenge speeches and declarations of hatred. And it's just..." He smothered the last of his laughter. "Sorry," he repeated while scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "I guess I might be a little bit hysterical after everything that's happened. And it's weird, you know. To have everything out in the open like this. But...it doesn't really change anything, right?"

Sakura smiled. "No, Naruto. It changes everything."

* * *

Ninken - Ninja dog (Kakashi's summons)

A/N: Wow, it's been a while. The delay was mainly caused by a massive amount of business. For those of you who don't read Atra Regnum, I'm and editor for the English translation of a novel called 1/2 Prince, so that's taking up a lot of my time. Plus I'm now also working the project for a 1/2 Prince RPG game. You can find more information about both projects on my profile, including links.

I'm both honored and humbled to have received a nomination for the Naruto FanFiction Awards 2010, especially with the recent lack of updates. It was actually the nomination that made me look back at the story and realize just how long it'd been since I last updated. I've since completely reread the story-as well as the 8+ pages of notes I have-and reminded myself why I loved writing this story in the first place. There's a lot of different stuff I'd like to go back and change now, but I won't-I'm going to continue moving forward writing this story, using what I currently have as a base to expand off of. For those of you interested in voting, here's the link: forum . fanfiction . net / topic / 57460 / 25623528 / 1 /

And finally, about this chapter. The majority of the angsty-ness is done with, although things with Team 7 are going to be far from smooth-sailing from here on out and they're not quit going to get along yet. All three of the Genin are going to have some changing to do before they grow up to be the people they're going to be, although Sakura is well on her way now. Due to what she's gone through, she's going to be different than she was in the manga-and most fics, I daresay-although she won't change completely until she's a little bit older.

Above all else, thanks for patience! The next chapter should definitely be out a lot sooner. As for my other stories, Reality's Illusion is next on my list, followed by Searching for Disaster and Anthem of the Angels (although AotA will probably be up first since I've already got the next chapter done).

-S.R.


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